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Yaw wants Legislature ‘out of way’ of energy regulatory matters

The possibility that Pennsylvania risked rolling blackouts over Christmas when it has among the nation’s richest energy portfolios has state Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Loyalsock Township, agitated to say the least.

Yaw, who chairs the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, told the Sun-Gazette editorial board recently that the state hosts the second largest gas producer in the country, EQT, located in Pittsburgh, which distributes 20% of all the gas utilized in the nation.

However, while the state has gas production it remains woefully short on available infrastructure for distribution of the gas.

Meanwhile, he said, the Legislature should “get out of the way of some of the regulatory” matters.

He lauded recent efforts by Gov. Josh Shapiro and his energy policy.

“I think the governor took a step in that direction when he said, ‘We’re going to face this permitting requirement when there are permits out there, you have to give people an answer,'” Yaw said.

“Now, he stopped a little bit short,” Yaw said. “Our position has always been that if you don’t respond within the time that you are supposed to, then the permits are automatically approved.

Shapiro said if the response does not come within an appropriate time the state wants the permit fee returned.

“I think it is a step in the right direction,” he said. “Maybe he did that to shake people up and say, ‘hey, I want to get your attention.”

For years, regarding regulatory reform, most businesses say, “‘just tell us what the environmental regulations are and we will deal with those,'” Yaw said. What they can’t deal with is delay, he added.

This region, he said, has been fairly responsive in getting permits in a timely fashion, while the southwestern part of the state is notoriously slower.

Yaw said he recently spoke with Richard Negrin, an appointee who may be nominated to become the next Department of Environmental Protection secretary.

“He is concerned about that,” Yaw said of Negrin’s push for timeliness in permitting processes and more coordination between the seven departmental regions.

Yaw also is for continued discussion with Cindy Adams, the secretary of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, over opening up state land for gas drilling. Adams was with the Wolf administration and was asked by the Shapiro administration to stay on and will go through a confirmation process.

Over the past 15 years, the industry has developed non-surface-disturbance technology, with the long laterals that the drillers have developed.

Yaw said he intends to ask her at the budget hearing about using DCNR land and opening it up for gas drilling.

“I’m fully aware of the environmental issues,” Yaw said. “I have told her I think there are ways to do it.”

When the drilling first began in earnest laterals were 5,000 feet. Today, they are 15,000 to 20,000 feet, which makes it possible to recover gas from the state land without disturbing the property, he explained.

If the state requires $100 million for upgrading its many parks, money from drilling for gas could be put into that expense without imposing on taxpayers, Yaw said.

Enormous energy potential

beneath our feet

In 2021, the U.S. produced 32.5 trillion cubic feet of gas; Russia about 22.5 trillion and western Europe 5.5. trillion, Yaw said.

Pennsylvania in that period produced 7.5 trillion.

“We produced one third of the gas in Pennsylvania that Russia did,” he said.

Yaw belongs to a task force that is studying a way to locate a liquified natural gas facility servicing the port of Philadelphia. It is a huge undertaking, supported by the trade unions, and requiring an estimated investment of $6 billion, he said.

Bonding solar arrays

While Yaw continues to support solar energy, regulations for solar farms are lacking, he said. Most individuals forget that leasing for the farms is within the 20- to 25-year range. A gas lease, comparatively speaking, is in the five-year range. It is natural to be concerned about the longer return on investment in solar, which might be multi-generational, he said.

Moreover, if the farm has 180 panels and is at the end of its life cycle, what happens to the panels in terms of disposal?

“Do you put them in the landfill?” Yaw asked.

Similarly, the disposal of wind mills isn’t clearly defined.

“There is no good way to recycle the material; it’s not conducive to recycling,” he said.

One company has cut up the blades and buried them in the state of Montana.

That is why Yaw favors legislation on solar bonding with the engineers who will be responsible for the costs to dismantle and recycle.

“You put up the bond to meet the cost so the landowner isn’t stuck with it,” he said, adding it would be part of a decommissioning plan.

Secondly, in terms of energy choice, Yaw does not favor municipal governments given the ability to tell what kind of energy a building owner should purchase.

With 2,500 government entities across the state, if each one had a different rule, the state would not be able to distribute the energy system, he said.

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