Governor Shapiro is determined to shut down Pennsylvania’s economical coal-fired power plants and increase our electricity costs. The average Pennsylvania electricity bill has increased by more than 30% in the past four years.
Last week Governor Shapiro rolled out his 2025 energy plan, and he is keeping Pennsylvania on the tired path of higher energy costs and higher deficits. A year ago we told you about Governor Shapiro’s PACER plan and its imposition of a carbon tax on electricity generation. He also introduced his PRESS plan, which is a massive expansion of Pennsylvania ratepayer paid subsidies for out-of-state wind and solar developers. In 2024 Governor Shapiro spent $3.5 billion more than revenue.
Now in his 2025 budget Governor Shapiro is doubling down on the disastrous PACER and PRESS plans, and is calling for spending more of our tax dollars on sustainable fuels and green energy—despite the fact that Pennsylvania is blessed with an abundance of clean-burning, inexpensive natural gas.
Governor Shapiro is repeating the “cheap green” energy promise. Unfortunately, that promise never delivers, and recently this blog has looked at the failed promises of wind energy. Today let’s look at a recent solar failure.
Ivanpah (also known as the “bird fryer”) is a solar facility, in the Mojave desert, that was opened to much fanfare in 2014. It was built with federal loans and grants totaling more than 1.6 billion dollars. The facility uses computer-controlled mirrors, that focus the sun’s energy on a 459 foot tall platform, generating steam for electricity.
But Ivanpah killed thousands of birds every year—literally igniting them in flight! Ivanpah also killed thousands of tortoises. And, no surprise, the facility proved incredibly expensive to operate—sending electricity costs skyrocketing. “The Ivanpah plant was a financial boondoggle and environmental disaster,” said Julia Dowell of the Sierra Club.
So, just 11 years after opening (and less than halfway through its expected lifespan), the $2 billion boondoggle is closing. But the boondoggling doesn’t end there. The broken contracts, and costs of closure, are expected to cost taxpayers an additional billion dollars.
Makes one want to ask Governor Shapiro: why are you stumbling down the boondoggle path?
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