Electric utilities implicated in climate change denial

Philadelphia, PA — A new report released by the watchdog Energy and Policy Institute this week has revealed that electric utilities clearly understood the impacts of climate change 30 years ago.

Philadelphia utility PECO is represented by the Edison Electric Institute, which is shown by the study to have been key in pushing policies hostile to solar and renewable energy, despite recognizing the challenges of climate change as early as 1988.

This new report builds on revelations released in May showing how the EEI has relied on money derived from billpayers’ pockets for legislative and policy work that should be charged to shareholders instead.

Greg Holt, Earth Quaker Actions Team’s Communications Manager, had the following statement: 

“PECO urgently needs to change course. Southeastern Pennsylvania can’t afford for PECO to continue hiding from what it knows. The company has had 30 years to plan for the impacts of climate change to our region. Distributed energy can reduce utility costs. Now it must take bold action to bring this opportunity to neighborhoods that need clean air and green jobs.”