Four Mount Joy Township supervisors on Thursday deadlocked on motions to grant or deny a conditional use permit to the 75-megawatt solar project from NextEra Energy.

The Independent Fiscal Office reports the state’s average natural gas price from January to March was 64 percent higher than the same time last year.

The bills come nearly a year after a statewide investigative grand jury found that state regulators failed to protect the public from the health impacts of fracking.

Supporters say the bill creates reasonable criteria for the industry. Opponents say it poses a risk to public health and the environment.

Last week’s votes mark a shift in attitude from last year, when none of the committees voted to recommend the draft rule.

Wolf’s candidate is leading the administration’s effort to have the state join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative which Republican lawmakers oppose.

Utilities are slated to meet the final goal of buying 8 percent of their electricity from renewable sources, with half a percent coming from solar, by May 31.

The move is one of several attempts by lawmakers to prevent the state joining the program through regulation.

The companies are launching pilot programs to produce gas without harmful methane leaks. There are business reasons to do that, experts say.

The report uses a worst-case scenario climate model, with no assumed solutions, to make its projections. Read the report here.