Apr 25, 2022 4 min read

Decarbonization is crucial to maintaining the economic competitiveness in the Pittsburgh region.

That is a key concept in the Allegheny Conference on Community Development’s strategy for energy transition in Southwestern Pennsylvania. A report detailing that strategy, “Our Region’s Energy Future: A Strategy for Accelerating Decarbonization Investment and Inclusive Growth in the Pittsburgh Region,” was unveiled Friday.

The Allegheny Conference on Community Development is an organization with a stated mission of improving the Pittsburgh region’s economic future and quality of life.

“This report defines our vision for the future of energy in our region,” said Hilary Mercer, co-chair of the Allegheny Conference Energy task Force. “It outlines a course that will help us reach to a low-carbon economy and, at the same time, accelerate economic growth.”

The report is the result of a year’s worth of work of a task force of more than 25 members. Provided is research to support a regional strategy to work towards low-carbon energy, which is critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases can have far-ranging environmental and health effects.

“The task force we convened set out to identify our region’s greatest energy challenges and opportunities,” explained Stefani Pashman, chief executive officer for the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. “Together, we defined a baseline, the pre-pandemic level of our energy sectors and determined where we have competitive advantages and are positioned to achieve transformational outcomes.”

Mercer explained that the region’s greenhouse gas emissions are about 50 to 55% higher than the rest of the state and the nation. However, Pennsylvania ranks second out of the nation’s 50 states in its 10-year reduction of greenhouse gases.

“That’s largely due to the shift from coal to natural gas,” she said. “It also demonstrates just how critical our region’s natural gas resources are, have been to date and will continue to be as we transition to a low-carbon future.”

Energy and energy-intensive sectors such as the extraction and distribution of coal, oil and gas and the generation of power and transmission are significant contributors to the Pittsburgh region, representing 24% of the gross regional product as of 2019.

That’s especially true locally, as Washington County has the second highest oil and gas extrication revenues in the commonwealth, accounting for 13% of total oil and gas production value in Pennsylvania. Greene County remains an important source of coal.

So part of the task force’s mission is to address the impacts of the economic and workforce transition while the energy transition takes place, meaning that making sure moving toward decarbonization does not result in large job less for those who work in the energy fields.

“This requires smart public policy, strategic investments in both business retooling and workforce upscaling to take advantages of what an energy transition will bring,” Mercer said. “We have to make sure everybody can access the better opportunities created by this transition.”

A move toward decarbonization is considered a means of making the region more attractive for investment by industry, thus creating more jobs with a higher earning potential.

Those who spoke Friday said doing nothing could result in the loss of several jobs quickly and the loss of prosperity to the area.

Six key steps the report states need to be taken are:

• Developing low-carbon energy and grid improvements;
• Deploying carbon capture and storage;
• Preventing methane emissions;
• Electrifying transportation;
• Developing hydrogen;
• Increasing building efficiency and electrification.

Seeing this plan result in success will take the efforts of many.

“Success will require leadership and commitment from a multitude of stakeholders across the region,” said Kevin Walker, president and CEO of Duquesne Light Co. “The energy transition is critical to the future competitiveness of the Pittsburgh region.”