Pennsylvania companies are absorbing sharply higher electricity and diesel costs that their customers won’t bear, according to reporting by the Pennsylvania Capital-Star from a Republican-led policy committee hearing held in Altoona on August 28.
Richard Weyant, facilities maintenance manager at Shirley’s Cookie Company in Blair County, told state lawmakers that his facility invested thousands of dollars in LED lighting upgrades and more efficient HVAC systems over four years.
Electricity consumption fell 5.7% as a result. Despite that, the company’s electricity bills climbed 17.4% over the same period, because rate increases outpaced the gains from conservation.
Weyant told lawmakers that Shirley’s competes with manufacturers in other states and other countries, so it cannot simply transfer every cost increase to buyers. A large share of those increases has to be absorbed by the business itself.
Diesel Prices Add Pressure Across the Supply Chain
Transportation companies face a separate but related burden. Diesel prices in Pennsylvania have reached $5.93 per gallon, nearly 32 cents above the national average and roughly three dollars more than a year ago, according to AAA figures cited at the hearing.
Bill Ward Jr., president and CEO of Ward Transport and Logistics, told the committee that those prices compress the company’s margins and make wage increases and strong benefits packages harder to sustain.
Employees who face the same fuel costs in their own lives respond by asking for higher pay or taking second jobs to cover their expenses.
Franklin and Marshall Poll Captures Resident Stress
The cost pressures are not confined to business owners. An August 2026 Franklin and Marshall College poll found that 57% of Pennsylvanians described it as very or somewhat difficult to afford their monthly utility bills.
Close to half of those surveyed said they were financially worse off than they were a year ago.
Both major parties have made affordability a centerpiece of their platforms ahead of November elections, when all 203 Pennsylvania House seats and half the state Senate are on the ballot.
Republican Lawmakers Point to Natural Gas and Energy Policy
Thursday’s hearing, run by Republican legislators, broadened into a wider debate over energy policy. Rep. Josh Kail (R-Beaver) placed responsibility for current conditions on Democratic energy decisions, specifically criticizing the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
RGGI required power plant operators to invest in clean energy to offset carbon dioxide emissions. The Shapiro administration formally withdrew Pennsylvania from the program as part of last year’s budget negotiations, after years of legal challenges had kept it on hold.
Kail argued that tapping Pennsylvania’s natural gas reserves more aggressively would increase supply and bring prices down.
Participants noted higher diesel prices as a significant expense throughout the hearing. None directly addressed the effect of the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict on national fuel costs, which analysts have linked to recent price increases.