As data centers working to develop artificial intelligence increase the demand for power in the commonwealth, Pennsylvania lawmakers have sought solutions to stem the associated rise of electricity costs.
Often, those discussions revolve around how to increase the amount of power being generated and build more infrastructure to supply it. But on Monday, members of the state House Energy Committee heard testimony on two proposals that wouldn’t require any new power plants or transmission lines, which can take years to bring online, and could take advantage of the existing infrastructure.
“We know that we are dealing with serious supply chain problems and demand problems, and that we need to do everything we can to get as much as possible out of our existing infrastructure,” House Energy Committee Chair Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Philadelphia, said. “I believe we need to do that while we are also getting more energy online.”
The focus was in part on so-called advanced transmission technologies, which could be installed on new or existing transmission lines to move electricity more efficiently. Another technology discussed was what are known as virtual power plants, which work by networking together products like smart appliances, electric vehicle chargers and rooftop solar panels across the commonwealth and remotely coordinating their energy use and release during times of stress on the grid.
A pair of bills put forward by House Democrats would incentivize those technologies’ use across the state. House Bill 2223, sponsored by Fiedler, would require utilities to show they’ve evaluated and considered the use of advanced transmission technologies when submitting already-required paperwork to the Public Utility Commission.
House Bill 2264, sponsored by Rep. Nathan Davidson, D-Dauphin, would direct utility companies to establish opt-in virtual power plant programs.
“Instead of building more large power plants and adding more capacity to the grid, which I think we all generally support in a variety of ways, virtual power plants connect things like rooftop solar panels, home battery storage systems and smart thermostats so they can work together in support of a strained grid, particularly in times of large peaks in energy demand,” Davidson said during a committee meeting Monday. “I think this bill is a practical solution to a problem we are all feeling today.”
Advanced transmission technologies
Advanced transmission technology includes both hardware and software.
Examples cited during the hearing include sensors that monitor things like weather and power line temperature in real time, allowing power suppliers to increase electricity flow safely when conditions are optimal.
Another would be high performance conductors, which could replace standard cables on power lines. They’re made of materials that reduce energy losses during transmission by up to 40% compared to traditional wires.
According to Paige Rodrigues, the senior manager for policy and grid safety at CTC Global, which manufactures the conductors, they cost roughly twice as much per foot as traditional conductors, but can also roughly double energy capacity. They also reduce cable sag, allowing greater space between towers when installing new power lines.
Jenny Netherton is an energy modernization project officer at Pew Charitable Trust, a nonprofit think tank. She said advanced transmission technologies can be installed on existing energy infrastructure in mere months, whereas building new power lines and plants can take years.
They can also reduce power bills by helping to solve a problem known as grid congestion. When a power grid lacks sufficient capacity, energy providers often have to release more expensive forms of energy to meet demand.
Netherton said that the technology is already being used. She said in 2002, PPL deployed dynamic line reading sensors on three bottlenecked power lines in central Pennsylvania for under $1 million, which resulted in $65 million in congestion cost savings.
And she said 18 states across the country, five in the PJM region, have already adopted policies aimed at increasing the use of such technologies. PJM ensures the flow of power to utilities in all or parts of 13 states from New Jersey to Illinois and the New York border to North Carolina.
Virtual power plants
Chris D’Agostino, the Pennsylvania policy principal for Advanced Energy United, an industry association that represents various energy businesses, told lawmakers they could think of a virtual power plant like a traditional one. But instead of being centralized, it’s spread out across the commonwealth.
It allows owners of appliances like electric car chargers, heat pumps and smart thermostats to opt in to a program that would network their devices for a power supplier to remotely direct to expend power or use less.
“When coordinated together, they operate like a single power plant from the grid operator’s perspective,” D’Agostino said.
Particularly at times of heavy energy usage, like extremely hot or cold days, a subtle change to hundreds or thousands of thermostats, for example, can substantially bring down demand on a power grid.
D’Agostino stressed that participation in the program would be voluntary, but incentivized by lower utility bills and rebates from a customer’s utility company.
Leah Gibbons, the director of regulatory affairs at NRG Energy, a company that operates virtual power plants, said that a similar program has already been running in Texas since a 2021 winter storm caused substantial disruptions to the power grid there.
She noted the program was particularly successful because that storm prompted so many to invest in technology like solar panels and home batteries to ensure they could keep their homes powered in the event another storm knocked out their grid. But those panels and batteries ended up contributing to a virtual power plant as well.
When lawmakers raised concerns that customers may be hesitant to give a power company control over their home appliances, Gibbons stressed that any change to an individual appliance, like a thermostat, would be almost undetectable. And she said, in her experience, clear communication makes people more willing to sign up.
“The key to having these programs work is that they’re transparent and they’re easy to understand,” she said. “They also can override them at any time.”
Neither bill received a vote Monday.
As it stands, only Democrats are attached to both bills, but Republicans have shown some support for the technologies.
Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, for example, is a co-sponsor on a federal bipartisan bill that would encourage the use of advanced transmission technology nationally.
This story was first published by Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Read more of their coverage here.
Ian Karbal covers state government for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. He’s particularly interested in the influence of money in politics and how arcane policies affect Pennsylvanians across the state.
