Scenario: Homesteads

“Homestead: 1.a: the home and adjoining land occupied by a family; b: an ancestral home.” — Merriam Webster

In Homesteads, the locus of energy policy and activity moves from the state level to a local and regional level.

2025-2030: A new homestead movement during a time of crisis

• Young professionals return to rural Pennsylvania, reviving small towns with a focus on self-regulation, civic pride, and multi-generational households.
• A catastrophic drought and flood expose state government inefficiencies, leading to a constitutional shift towards decentralized, locally-led commissions for infrastructure, energy, and emergency response.

2035-2045: A growing regionalism

• Pennsylvania’s regions increasingly align with neighboring states, developing distinct energy priorities and local solutions through public-private partnerships and decentralized decision-making.
• Energy policies diverge across the state, with some areas embracing renewables, others gas with CCUS, and some adopting local incentives for renewable power generation and energy independence.

2045-2050: Sure-footedness takes root

• Regional public-private partnerships grow, fostering economic balance across the state while tackling local energy challenges through coordinated efforts between state and local governments.
• Pennsylvania’s patchwork energy approach, blending CCUS, renewables, and agri-innovation, accelerates the state’s growth, achieving decarbonization and sustainable development more effectively than its competitors.