Republican lawmakers from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia will gather next week for what they are calling the first regional effort to tackle the Mid-Atlantic’s growing energy affordability and reliability crisis.
The hearing, set for Tuesday, Oct. 28, at the Pennsylvania State Capitol, will mark the launch of a multi-state series examining how energy mandates, power plant closures, and grid disruptions are driving up costs for consumers.
What began as a casual conversation between New Jersey Assemblyman Paul Kanitra and Pennsylvania Rep. Kristin Marcell at a policy conference in Florida evolved into a regional initiative. Marcell brought the idea to Rep. David Rowe, chairman of the Pennsylvania House Republican Policy Committee, who helped organize the first joint hearing in Harrisburg.
“We realized that our states share the same grid, the same power plants, and increasingly, the same pain,” Kanitra (R-Ocean) said. “Families and small businesses are being crushed by the cost of political energy mandates. It doesn’t stop at the state line. When one state stumbles, the whole region feels it.”
Kanitra pointed to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s recent remarks that his state may need to leave the PJM power grid to protect consumers, saying it underscores how vulnerable Gov. Phil Murphy has made New Jersey as an energy importer.
New Jersey Assembly Republican Leader John DiMaio said the collaboration builds on the Energy Task Force he launched earlier this year to counter rising costs and what he called burdensome clean-energy mandates.
“We’re looking forward to working across state lines to deliver immediate and long-lasting relief to New Jersey’s beleaguered energy ratepayers,” DiMaio (R-Warren) said. “Democrat-led policies are fueling higher costs instead of energy reliability and affordability. Under Republican leadership, New Jersey can and will be part of solving the urgent energy crisis crushing residents and businesses in our interstate grid.”
Confirmed speakers for the Harrisburg hearing include Rob Jennings, vice president of natural gas markets for the American Petroleum Institute; Maddie Milam, Midwest executive director of the Consumer Energy Alliance; and Stephen Bennet, senior manager of regulatory and legislative affairs for PJM Interconnection, which operates the regional power grid. They are expected to discuss how supply restrictions, market distortions, and political mandates have destabilized regional energy prices.
The Harrisburg hearing is the first of three regional sessions. A follow-up event is planned in Trenton to explore how to balance clean-energy goals with affordability, and another in Annapolis early next year focusing on transmission, permitting, and regional coordination.
New Jersey lawmakers Dawn Fantasia and Gregory Myhre will join DiMaio and Kanitra in Harrisburg, alongside more than two dozen Republican lawmakers from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.
“Every state wants to lead on clean energy, but someone has to keep the lights on in the meantime,” Kanitra said. “This isn’t about ideology; it’s about affordability, reliability, and accountability. We’re building a coalition to bring those values back to energy policy.”
The hearing will take place from 9 to 10:30 a.m. in the Ryan Office Building Library at the Pennsylvania Capitol Complex, followed by a press conference at 10:45 a.m. in the Capitol Media Center.
