Electric bills in Lehigh and Bucks counties keep going up, and data centers are a big reason why. Mark Pinsley and Jarrett Coleman are running for Pennsylvania Senate District 16. Here is how they compare.
In short:
- Mark Pinsley would make data centers pay for the power they use instead of passing the cost to everyone else. He would put a statewide moratorium on new data centers until there are real rules, and regulate all data centers, old and new. And he would make utilities prove, with hard numbers, that they need a rate increase before regulators can approve it.
- Jarrett Coleman has taken $25,750 from PPL’s political committee, including $5,000 while PPL’s rate increase was waiting for a decision. In 2024, he cast the only vote in the Senate against funding the state office that stands up for utility customers in rate cases.
Data centers are raising everyone’s bill
Pennsylvania is part of a regional power grid run by PJM. Every year, PJM holds an auction to make sure there will be enough power plants to meet future demand. Everyone’s electric bill helps pay the cost.
Data centers are pushing that cost up. After the most recent auction, PJM said nearly all of the price increase came from data centers. The grid’s independent watchdog, Monitoring Analytics, said data center demand was the main reason prices spiked in the auction before that, too. (WHYY)
In the first half of 2026, wholesale power costs across the region rose about 50% from a year earlier, and the watchdog tied part of that increase to expected data center demand. Its recommendation: make data centers provide their own new power, so other customers don’t absorb the cost. (MyChesco) That is the same thing Pinsley has been proposing.
A first step has passed the House. In March 2026, the Pennsylvania House passed House Bill 1834, 104–95. It would make data centers pay the full cost of the grid upgrades they need, contribute to energy assistance for low-income families, and get a growing share of their power from clean sources. It is now in the Republican-controlled Senate, where it faces an uncertain future. (House Roll Call 878 · City & State Pennsylvania · GovTech)
Pinsley calls that a good first step, and says Pennsylvania has to go further. As Lehigh County Controller, Pinsley’s office is producing a report on the role data centers have played in the 55% cost increase in the county’s own electric bill over the last four years.
Why PPL bills jump
Electric rates in Pennsylvania are set by the Public Utility Commission (PUC).
In September 2025, PPL asked to raise its rates by $356.3 million a year — its first rate increase request since 2016. (PUC) Utilities often wait years and then ask for a big increase all at once. That is why bills jump instead of rising slowly.
In June 2026, the PUC approved about $275 million. A typical home’s monthly bill went from about $177 to about $184. The decision also added rules meant to keep big users like data centers from pushing their costs onto other PPL customers — a start, but it covers only one utility. (PUC)
More on how rate cases work: Why do PPL electric bills keep going up?
Part of your bill is profit
In 2024, about 20 cents of every dollar PPL collected went to profit for its investors. That was the highest of the 22 utilities in our regional power grid, and the highest in Pennsylvania. (Energy and Policy Institute, March 2026)
| Utility | Share of the bill that went to profit, 2024 |
|---|---|
| PPL Electric | 20 cents per dollar |
| Duquesne Light | 17 cents |
| PECO | 14 cents |
| Regional average | about 12 cents |
On a $184 monthly bill, 20 cents per dollar works out to roughly $440 a year per household.
Utilities are allowed to earn a profit. The PUC sets how much. Pinsley’s point is that the PUC should be required to look harder before saying yes.
Pinsley’s plan
- Put a statewide moratorium on new data centers, including the giant hyperscale facilities that use the most power and water.
- Keep it in place until real rules are written into law.
- Regulate all data centers, old and new. That includes making them bring new renewable power online — at least as much as they use — and phase out fossil fuels, so families don’t pay for their power or breathe their pollution.
- Prove it first. Data centers should have to show how they’ll follow these rules before their projects are even considered.
- Break the rules, pay the price. A data center that breaks these laws should either pay the public back or shut down. Pinsley explains why in this video.
- Make utilities prove it. Before the PUC approves a rate increase, the utility should have to justify it with hard numbers — real, documented costs.
- Strengthen the consumer advocate. Give Pennsylvania’s Office of Consumer Advocate the staff and funding to fight for families in every rate case.
- A public hearing before every rate increase. Require one before any electricity rate increase is approved, so families get a say before their bills rise.
Pinsley says Coleman’s data center bill helps developers more than towns. It exempts some of the biggest projects, and it requires every town’s pause to include a way for developers to ask to skip it. See: How do Mark Pinsley and Jarrett Coleman compare on data centers?
Coleman now says rising electric bills are one reason he opposes data center development in the communities he represents. (The Morning Call, October 5, 2026) But his bill still leaves each town on its own.
Clean air, clean energy and good jobs
- Pinsley would raise Pennsylvania’s clean energy standard, which has been stuck at 8% since 2021. (Sierra Club Pennsylvania) He would build renewables, battery storage and grid upgrades with apprenticeship-trained trades workers, and make polluters pay for cleanup. More new power on the grid means less pressure on the prices families pay.
- His full plan, including air quality and protecting drinking water from data centers: What is Mark Pinsley’s position on clean energy and the environment in Pennsylvania?
Coleman’s record
- Money from energy companies. Coleman has taken $25,750 from PPL’s political committee since 2022. $5,000 of it came on March 30, 2026 — after PPL asked for its rate increase and before the PUC decided. (state campaign finance filings) He has also taken smaller amounts from PECO, FirstEnergy and Essential Utilities. See: How much of Jarrett Coleman’s campaign money comes from special interests? To be clear: the PUC decides rate cases, not senators, and Coleman did not vote on PPL’s request. But the Senate writes the laws the PUC follows.
- A vote against utility customers’ advocate. On June 25, 2024, Coleman cast the only vote in the Senate against funding the Office of Consumer Advocate — the state office that represents utility customers when companies like PPL ask for rate increases (Roll Call 524). That same afternoon, he voted for the state budget. See: What is Jarrett Coleman’s voting record in the Pennsylvania Senate?
- Energy bills that went nowhere. Coleman has introduced bills about energy supply and costs, but none has made it out of committee.
- Infrastructure. He has voted against every capital budget since he took office — four out of four, most recently in July 2026. Capital budgets pay for infrastructure projects, including the grid. (roll call)
- Climate. In 2025 he voted for Senate Bill 1068, to undo the rules that put Pennsylvania in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multistate program that limits carbon pollution from power plants. (SB 1068 · Roll Call 253)
- Gas hookups. In 2025 he voted for Senate Bill 311, which stops towns from limiting new natural gas hookups. (SB 311)
The conservative group Americans for Prosperity’s own scorecard shows Coleman voting its way on both of those 2025 bills. (AFP scorecard)
What’s at stake
The next state senator will help decide whether data centers pay for the power they use or pass the cost to families, and how hard regulators must look before approving a rate increase.
Pinsley asks voters to consider who is funding each campaign when deciding whose side each candidate will be on.
The general election is November 3, 2026.
