Alliance members are working to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping temperature increases below 1.5 degrees Celsius by reducing emissions, accelerating action, centering equity, and tracking progress. 

Explore Pennsylvania's policies and actions across the Alliance's 10 key policy areas. Numbers presented below only reflect the number of policies in this database and thus may not reflect all climate policies pursued.

pennsylvania

GHG Targets + Governance

Just Transition + Equity

Industry

Pricing Carbon + Valuing Damages

Electricity Generation

Transportation

Resilience

Natural + Working Lands

Climate Finance

Buildings

total

Act 129, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program Implementation

On June 11, 2015, the Commission adopted additional incremental reductions in consumption for a Phase III of the Act 129 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program. Phase III began on June 1, 2016, and will end on May 31, 2021. Phase III requires a cumulative average savings of approximately 3.7% (range of 2.6% to 5.0%) from energy efficiency and also includes a DR requirement with average annual savings of 425 MW.

Act 129 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program Phase IV; Doc. No. M-2020-3015228
Via its June 18, 2020 Implementation Order, the Commission adopted additional incremental reductions in consumption for a Phase IV of the Act 129 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program.  Phase IV began on June 1, 2021 and will end on May 31, 2026. In its June 2020 Implementation Order, the Commission concluded that it was unnecessary to continue requiring preliminary annual reports in addition to the final annual reports.  Therefore, to streamline the reporting process, the preliminary annual report was eliminated, while maintaining the semiannual and final annual reporting process.  In addition, in the interest of providing the final annual reports to the public in a much timelier fashion, the Commission required the EDCs to submit the final annual reports by September 30 of each year.

Environmental Justice Policy Revision

After extensive public comment reviews and policy revisions, DEP adopted an interim final Environmental Justice Policy on September 16, 2023. Additionally, DEP has an improved mapping tool to better identify EJ areas within the Commonwealth and has an expansive and elevated Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ). There will be a formal public comment period until November 30, 2023.

 The interim-final EJ Policy includes several sections that enhance the previous Environmental Justice Public Participation Policy which had been in effect since 2004.

1. Introduction section includes history and background.
2. The Definitions section describes key terms used in the policy to help clarify the document for the public, DEP staff, and the regulated community.
3. Environmental Justice Criteria describes where the policy applies. This will be done through the PennEnviroScreen tool, described in detail in the Pennsylvania Environmental Justice Mapping and Screening Tool (PennEnviroScreen) Methodology Documentation 2023.
4. Proactive Community Engagement section describes how DEP can center community voices by reaching communities before an environmental crisis or project application comes before the agency for review.
5. Enhanced Public Participation Process provides a systematic approach to ensure that the permitting process prioritizes EJ as a key consideration in the review process.
6. Inspections, Compliance, and Enforcement guidance help the policy move beyond public participation in the permitting process and consider how DEP can be prioritized within regulatory limits after permits are approved.
7. Community Development and Investments seeks to facilitate financial assistance to communities facing environmental justice issues.
8. Climate Initiatives clarifies ways that EJ can be integrated in the climate action plan and other climate change related efforts.
9. Policy Updates, the final section, specifies the review and revision cycles for the policy to ensure data reliability and applicability.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) created the PennEnviroScreen framework which provides an annually updated snapshot of undue environmental burden on vulnerable communities. This model combines Pollution Burden and Population Characteristics data in order to identify Environmental Justice (EJ) Areas in accordance with the EJ Policy, which will increase public participation in the permitting process of proposed facilities.

PennEnviroScreen

At its June 18, 2020, public meeting, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (Commission) adopted the Act 129 Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EE&C) Program Phase IV Implementation Order establishing a Phase IV for the Act 129 EE&C Program. This Implementation Order tentatively adopts required consumption and peak demand reductions for each electric distribution company subject to Act 129, as well as guidelines for implementing Phase IV of the EE&C Program.
Phase IV began on June 1, 2021 and will end on May 31, 2026.
- annual electric savings targets from 0.8% to roughly 0.6% for 2021–26
- 3.1% statewide electric energy target by 2026, from 2010 baseline

Pennsylvania Electric Energy Efficiency Standards

Pennsylvania Methane Overflight Study Final Report

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), in collaboration with Carbon
Mapper, Inc. (Carbon Mapper) and the U.S. Climate Alliance, conducted a research study to
better understand the capabilities of airborne methane detection technology and to gather data on
methane emission sources and rates. More specifically, this study intended to evaluate the
effectiveness of Carbon Mapper's airborne technology as a methane emission data measurement
tool to detect methane-emitting sources and measure their corresponding emission rates. This 2021 research study helped state regulators identify 145 large sources of emissions and reduce or eliminate 12 of them, mitigating over 2.2 million metric tons of CO2e per year and serving as a proof of concept for future methane detection and mitigation activities in the state.