Study explores impact of transitioning 10 percent of Pennsylvania’s electric generation to solar

Published on June 19, 2019 by Kevin Randolph

According to a new report commissioned by Community Energy, Inc., transitioning 10 percent of Pennsylvania’s electric generation to solar would reduce the state’s wholesale electric costs by $619 million annually and lower wholesale electric prices across the multi-state utility power grid, PJM Interconnection, by $3 billion annually.

Making the transition would cost less than half of the $619 million the transition would save, the report found.

The study, prepared by the independent power analytics firm PowerGEM, LLC, was completed to determine the reliability and market impact of a future scenario where 7,500 megawatts of solar generation is deployed in Pennsylvania, which is enough to supply about 10 percent of the in-state electric load.

In the study, when solar generates peak power with no additional cost during the hours of the day when demand is highest and generation costs are at their peak, a concept called peak shaving or price suppression, energy savings and wholesale price reductions result.

“We know that solar delivers ‘peak shaving’ and new jobs at multiples of the rates in other sectors,” Brent Alderfer, CEO at Community Energy, Inc., said. “The news is the rapid drop in the investment cost to get there. This study confirms the winning economics of solar at scale, and we are excited to be a part of bringing the fastest growing energy sector in the world to Pennsylvania.”

Data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) shows that increasing the amount of solar in Pennsylvania to 10 percent would bring $10 billion in new private investment to the state and create more than 65,000 jobs.

Using assumptions from recent PJM Reports and the PA Solar Future Report, the study found that the proposed new solar resources would require moderate transmission upgrades to maintain grid reliability and that the costs of the upgrades would be largely covered by the new solar projects as part of their routine costs of interconnection.