Jason Fink, president and CEO for the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce, is right to sound the alarm.

Fink detailed in his monthly column in Chamber Connection, provided with last Wednesday’s edition of the Sun-Gazette, the risks of an energy crisis in our state and region.

“We are seeing greater demand and are getting to the point where the demand is going to outpace supply,” he wrote. “Our electric bills over the past several years have been a telling sign for this increased demand. Prices continue to go up, and no new plants are coming online to meet the need.”

As we have observed before, increased energy costs carry over to almost every facet of life, if not every single facet of life. Increased electric and energy bills pull employers’ revenues away from creating new jobs and increasing pay and benefits for existing jobs. Increased bills often are passed along to consumers, leading to higher prices on nearly every shelf in nearly every store.

The degree of energy’s impact on the budgets of every family and every enterprise is why the issue is one on which our editorial board so fre-quently comments.

And Fink is correct that an environment of excessive regulatory burdens has hindered the construction of new plants and the development of domestic energy sources to address this potential crisis.

The good news is we have a congressional majority and White House that recognizes the necessity of developing domestic energy and that have already taken many positive steps to foster a new climate — one in which natural gas, oil, solar, wind and hydroelectric power can all play vital roles in preventing that crisis.

We hope this new leadership is effective in prioritizing energy development, so that our communities can enjoy the prosperity and opportunities that affordable energy can support.

— Williamsport Sun-Gazette