The Pennsylvania Chautauqua Summer Programs at Mount Gretna will host a free public panel discussion, “IT’S ELECTRIC!! Issues in Energy,” on Tuesday, July 14, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Mount Gretna Playhouse, 200 Pennsylvania Ave., Mount Gretna.
The event is presented as a community education and public service initiative.
As electricity demand rises due to new data centers, electric vehicles, and expanding industry, questions are mounting about whether the region’s power grid can meet future needs, a press release explains. The panel will address these concerns directly, examining the challenges facing the electric grid, including resource adequacy, affordability, the rapid expansion of data centers, electric vehicle adoption, and advanced manufacturing.
Capacity shortages are projected before the end of the decade, underscoring the urgency of the discussion. The panel will examine the challenges facing the electric grid, who is responsible for keeping the lights on, and what it could mean for consumers, businesses, and communities across the commonwealth.
The panel will bring together four of Pennsylvania’s leading energy voices to examine each organization’s role in the energy landscape and the ongoing effort to balance consumer needs, utility responsibilities, reliability, and affordability, according to the release.
Panelists are Darryl Lawrence, Pennsylvania Consumer Advocate; Kim Barrow, vice chair of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission; and Timothy Burdis, lead strategist in the State Government Policy Department at PJM Interconnection, the country’s largest regional electrical transmission organization. The discussion will be moderated by Shelby Linton Keddie, senior director of external and public affairs for PPL Electric Utilities.
This program is free to attend. Audience members are encouraged to submit questions in advance by emailing pachautauqua@gmail.com.
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