Republicans appeared set to hold onto control of the Pennsylvania Legislature, potentially providing a check on Democratic Governor Tom Wolf's ambitious clean energy efforts.
Both state House and Senate control were closely contested, with substantial potential impact for clean energy policies and oil and gas regulation in the major natural gas-producing state.
A meaningful shift to blue could have freed up a bill on energy efficiency that advanced in the Senate.
On the power side, efforts have been underway for Pennsylvania to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, an emissions cap-and-trade program, but Wolf has faced a tug of war with the legislature over his executive actions.
Generation in the state is dominated by gas, coal and nuclear, which together accounted for 96% of the power mix in 2019. In recent years, the gas generation share has grown due to the addition of combined-cycle capacity burning low-cost Marcellus Shale gas. Retirement of Three Mile Island in September and possibly the Beaver Valley nuclear plant in the next few years will lead to declines in nuclear output.
Wolf has also faced friction in the legislature on efforts to tighten gas industry regulations, such as controls on methane emissions, and impose a severance tax on gas production.
Results coming in
Pennsylvania continues to race to count all of its ballots, but results point toward GOP control. Of General Assembly races called by the Associated Press, Republicans have a 102-70 lead. Among the uncalled races, unofficial results would give Republicans 15 more seats and the Democrats another 16, putting the balance of power at 117-86. Some races remain very close but even if the GOP takes more losses than expected, they would still eek out a majority.
In the contest for the Senate, Republicans were up 14-6 in called races, with two uncalled races likely going to the Republicans and three to Democrats, for a 16-9 win for Republicans of 25 seats up for grabs. If those results hold, the composition of the full state Senate would be 29 Republicans, 20 Democrats and one Independent, reflecting a net pickup of one seat for the GOP.
All 203 seats were up for grabs in the General Assembly, where Republicans held control 109 to 93 going into the election. In the Senate, 25 seats were up for grabs in a chamber where Republicans held 28 to 21, with one independent.
