What Is Electrification?
Electrification converts an energy-consuming device, system, or sector from non-electric sources of energy to electricity. It’s an emerging economy-wide decarbonization strategy that is beginning to impact the electric power industry.
How will electrification impact your home?
Electrification of buildings in Pennsylvania might not be limited to heating. We’ve seen pushes to ban traditional fuel hookups in new buildings that would eliminate these efficient products:
- Gas-fired conventional and tankless water heaters
- Indirect-fired water heaters
- Gas ranges and ovens
- Gas logs
- Gas-powered laundry dryers
- Standby power generators
There’s also a push to compel motorists, school districts, municipalities, and commercial vehicle fleets to use electric vehicles. Electric vehicles come with an incredibly high price point that is outside the reach of many people. They also have issues with cold weather, like sudden power losses and prolonged charging times. Plus, the charging infrastructure necessary to accommodate more EVs — from the stations to the grid capacity — is not there.
The push toward EVs disregards other innovative, reliable and affordable decarbonization options such as biodiesel, renewable diesel and propane autogas.
Electrification initiatives imperil electric grid stability in two ways. Firstly, moving our buildings to all-electric heating and increasing the number of EVs on the road puts tremendous strain on our grid, particularly in the coldest days of the year. We don’t need to tell you that a grid outage during a freezing night puts everyone in danger.
Secondly, electrification often involves the elimination of traditional sources of generation (natural gas, coal, etc.), which can be deployed when demand is high. In their place are less tested sources, like wind and solar, that currently make up a tiny fraction of the energy mix and cannot be deployed on demand.
In short, electrification would make our grid less dependable even as demand for electricity surges to unprecedented levels.
Is grid electricity really cleaner?
Let’s be clear — electric vehicles, heating systems and appliances are only as clean as the electricity that powers them. Pennsylvania’s electric grid has a reliable and robustly powered electric grid relying on nuclear power, natural gas, coal, hydropower and a limited amount of wind and solar.
As demand for electricity grows from the residential, commercial, transportation and other sectors, we must meet it with a power grid that has a stable generation function that is deployable as needed. Pennsylvania currently generates 64% of its power generation from natural gas and coal. Renewables (wind, solar, hydro) dramatically reduces the lifecycle emissions of the energy produced but combined these power sources only make up 3.5% of the production consumed within our state. This means the power used to charge an EV or run an electric heat pump is most likely coming from a fossil fuel source.
[Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration]
Where does Pennsylvania stand on electrification?
We’re pleased to say that many of our elected officials appreciate the value of a diverse energy mix. In 2022, our legislature passed a bill that would prohibit municipalities from adopting ordinances that would restrict the use of traditional energy sources, including natural gas, heating oil and propane. Sadly, the bill was vetoed by the governor.
On the other hand, we have seen government movement to establish a “cap-and-trade”-style program that could inflate the cost of traditional fuels, as well as regulations to develop a zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) program comparable to one seen in California.
Perhaps most concerning, in 2023, Pennsylvania’s governor, Josh Shapiro, was one of 25 governors who committed to installing 20 million heat pumps by 2030. While heat pumps are good for many homes, they are not the sole solution to addressing climate change.
It’s essential for engaged Pennsylvania residents to tell lawmakers that they oppose the reckless path of mandated electrification. Please reach out to your elected officials and tell them we need an “all of the above” emissions-reduction strategy.