Bloomsburg native Dave McCormick, who said he will be a pro-energy U.S. senator, drew insight Friday from energy providers and policy and industry insiders at an energy roundtable discussion at the Williamsport Country Club.
“I believe in my heart that energy is the long pole in the tent,” McCormick said.
He added, as he sits down with CEOs of companies and presidents of colleges and universities, and listens to those voting this Nov. 5 and before, he is asked, “Give me one thing that can change Pennsylvania?” and the answer he always receives is to “be able to continue to unlock our precious natural resources, natural gas and others, to continue to be an energy superpower that can export not only to the rest of the country but to the world.”
The electricity providers on the roundtable urged McCormick, if elected as he competes with the U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, for the seat left vacant by the former U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, to ensure he gets onto a senate committee focused on energy.
“This belief (of untapping our natural resources to be an energy superpower) is happening as energy demands are going up dramatically, where our proximity to 65% of the population in America is within 500 miles,” McCormick observed.
McCormick said he approaches the subject as “someone who was a soldier, a military guy, and from the geo-political national security perspective.”
“Being an energy exporter is incredibly important,” he said. “I say that as someone who is very focused on the fact that demographically we are losing people,” he said.
As a state, Pennsylvania needs to create great, high-paying jobs, he said.
“Career paths for our young people, who either leave and come back or stay, and have a future and vision,” he said.
“There is no single thing that is more powerful and potent than our energy sector,” McCormick attested.
“The importance of our fossil fuels, natural gas and others, is the path for energy transition and carbon emission reduction,” he said.
“Nationally, our carbon emissions have come down 18 to 20%,” McCormick noted.
The candidate said he supports and believes it is critical and a national priority to unlock Pennsylvania’s emergency potential.
In a campaign statement, McCormick noted if the commonwealth were a country, it would have the fourth largest natural gas reserves in the world.
“I should be, I want to be an energy focused senator,” he said, adding a jab at Casey. “Pennsylvania has been unserved by Casey,” he said.
“He has been a weak voice at best and in some ways has been an opponent of you,” he said to the table of business leaders and those in the state legislature and Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.
Yaw noted the importance of this region in terms of natural gas.
“We have dry gas here, that is virtually pipeline quality,” Yaw said.
“We have had significant flooding in the area and the gas companies have been unbelievable with equipment, money and manpower,” he said.
Recently, Yaw’s major areas of concern have been grid and grid reliability, which involves the gas industry and other energy resources.
“With Dave as a U.S. senator, that is a huge issue,” he said.
“I don’t care what the social issue is. I don’t care what the money issue is. When the lights start going out that becomes the number one issue in Pennsylvania and in the United States.”
Two ways to make electricity are thermal and non-thermal. Thermal means anyway to generate steam. That is the type of energy that is available 24-hours a day, seven days a week, Yaw remarked.
“My question I always ask anyone is ‘where is your power going to come from at 3 a.m. on a cold winter night or a hot summer night?’”
Most people ignore the question, he added.
What is happening in this region’s grid and happening across the U.S. is the retirement of thermal generation and replacing it with intermittent and limited generation solar, he said.
In a quick check on the PJM Interconnection phone app Friday, 4% was coming from renewable, 45% from gas, 35% nuclear and 14% coal.
PJM Interconnection operates the regional electric grid serving 13 states and the District of Columbia.
One of the major issues with the grid and grid reliability is who pays for the huge upgrades that are needed if a state such as Illinois said “we are going all green,” and Ohio says “why should I pay for what you want to do?’
“We have that same problem in Pennsylvania with the Brandon Shores Power Plant in Maryland.”
“Who pays (for upgrades to ensure the grid is reliable). In part, Pennsylvanians will pay for them,” Yaw said. PJM Interconnection issued a report warning that under current trends there may not be enough electric generating capacity to keep the lights on by 2028-2030.