By ERIC SEIVERLING
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has released its 2020 Act 13 Impact Fee distribution amounts from natural gas producers throughout the state, and as expected by many officials, the amounts decreased from previous years.
The PUC will distribute $146,254,725 to county and municipal governments next month, a number that declined by $54 million from 2019.
The PUC said the decline was driven primarily by the average price of natural gas in 2020, which dropped to $2.08 per BTU versus 2019’s average price of $2.63 per BTU.
The PUC said 2020 also saw the fewest number of new wells in any year since the passage of Act 13 in 2012.
In the Mon Valley, Allegheny County will receive 1,082,711.86 in impact fees, down from last year’s $1,583,252.99. Fayette County will receive $701,661.20 vs. last year’s $1,044,579.29; Washington County will receive $4,475,826.09 vs. last year’s $6,619,868.36; and Westmoreland County will receive $771,895.46 vs. last year’s $1,160,392.33.
Washington County received the highest amount of all counties in the state.
Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi said the lower amounts stem from last year’s COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s something we expected. Everybody knew we were in a pandemic last year,” Maggi said. “Energy was not at a premium. That’s why we have our rainy day fund to put money back into the budget for situations like this. The wells weren’t operating. We could see that locally.”
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