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Lawmakers Supporting Bipartisan Expanded Renewable Energy Standards Announce Senate, House Bills

On April 10, Senate and House lawmakers were joined by renewable energy advocates to announce Senate and House legislation to expand the state’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards.

Legislators included Senators Steven J. Santarsiero (D-Bucks), Art Haywood (D-Philadelphia), Thomas H. Killion (R-Delaware), and Representatives Steve McCarter (D-Montgomery) and Carolyn Comitta (D-Chester).

“These standards don’t just measure progress when it comes to clean energy, family sustaining jobs, and environmental stewardship. They tell our children and grandchildren that we care about their future,” Sen. Santarsiero said. “I refuse to sit on the sidelines when so much is at stake for the next generation.”

“It is long overdue for Pennsylvania to implement new clean energy goals to create good jobs, cut pollution, and ensure we are a sustainable and prosperous state for the future of everyone,” Sen. Haywood said.

“Expanding renewable energy is critical to Pennsylvania’s future,” said Sen. Killion. “Modernizing our energy standards will protect the environment and create thousands of jobs. Substantially boosting renewable energy is absolutely the best way to provide cleaner air for our families while growing our state’s economy.”.

“The fierce and immediate urgency of climate change requires a fierce and immediate response,” Rep. McCarter said. “Thirty by ’30 is an excellent immediate goal. It’s reasonable and achievable. It creates jobs in Pennsylvania. And most importantly, it sets the stage for the much tougher work to come.

“I am proud to join my fellow colleagues in supporting legislation that calls for modernizing the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards,” said Rep. Carolyn Comitta. “Our state has already made important investments in alternative and clean energy technologies, but we must do more. Adjusting our electrical energy requirements to 30% by 2030 will solidify our path to reducing our carbon footprint and advance Pennsylvania toward becoming a national energy leader.”

The legislation would--

-- Expand the AEPS Tier I requirement from 8 to 30 percent by 2030, including 7.5 percent for in-state grid-scale solar and 2.5 percent for in-state distributed generation solar [DEP’s Solar Future Plan recommends increasing AEPS solar mandates];

-- Directs the PUC to study the benefits of a renewable energy storage program;

-- Provides for several protections that control costs for electricity customers, including long-term contracting, fixed ACP payments, and a 15-year lifetime limit for generating eligible SRECs for solar projects.

The proposal does not include nuclear energy as do Senate Bill 510 (Aument-R- Lancaster) and House Bill 11 (Mehaffie-R-Dauphin) which would add nuclear power to a new Tier III in the AEPS.

Click Here for a sponsor summary of the new AEPS renewable energy bill.

Reaction

The Renewables Work for PA Coalition applauds the introduction of Senate Bill 600, and companion House legislation, that would update Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) to include a target of 30 percent renewable energy in Tier I of the AEPS by 2030.

The Renewables Work for PA Coalition is a newly-formed group of more than 40 renewable energy companies and trade associations advocating for strong state renewable energy policies that will create family-sustaining jobs for residents and drive forward a renewable energy economy in Pennsylvania.

In relation to the Tier I AEPS goal in Senate Bill 600, the Coalition supports a minimum goal of at least 10 percent in-state solar energy, with 2.5 percent from distributed solar energy and the exploration of renewable energy storage within the Commonwealth.

“The renewable energy industry, and in particular the solar energy industry in Pennsylvania, is strong and poised for explosive growth if the right policy signals communicate that we are open for business,” said Ron Celentano, president of the PA Solar Energy Industries Association and proprietor of Celentano Energy Services. “Senators Santarsiero, Killion and Haywood [and Representatives Steve McCarter (D-Montgomery) and Carolyn Comitta (D-Chester)] are to be commended for their leadership on this critical effort to position Pennsylvania competitively to attract investment and create tens of thousands of jobs.”

Pennsylvania’s AEPS was enacted by the General Assembly in 2004 with just an eight percent Tier I goal for renewable energy. That target plateaus in 2021, requiring action to increase the target goal during the 2019-2020 legislative session.

While gains in wind and solar capacity have been made over the last 15 years, the current amount of renewable energy generation in Pennsylvania accounts for just five percent of the existing energy portfolio. Neighboring states such as Ohio, New Jersey and Maryland all have more robust renewable energy standards and more clean energy jobs

"Pennsylvania doesn't have to choose between clean, sustainable energy and a strong economy—we can have both," Sen. Santarsiero said. "For the sake of our health, environment and family sustaining jobs, it's time to commit to higher renewable energy standards."

According to the Department of Environmental Protection’s “Finding Pennsylvania Solar Future Plan,” Pennsylvania has the technical feasibility to develop 10 percent solar by 2030. In addition, the two-and-a-half-year project concluded that the trajectory to 10 percent solar would create 60,000 to 100,000 jobs and could result in a net benefit of over $1.6 billion annually.

“Senate Bill 600 brings $10 billion of private investment and more than 60,000 jobs to Pennsylvania as it builds out a long-term hedge to energy costs and puts us on track to meet the climate change challenge in the 10-year window we have left,” said Brent Alderfer, CEO of Community Energy Inc., based in Radnor. “That is the new economics of solar, and we are excited to be part of bringing this fastest growing energy source in the world home to Pennsylvania.”

Joe Morinville, President of Energy Independent Solutions, located in Pittsburgh, added: “Senate Bill 600 spurs a renewal of our energy distribution and generation system in Pennsylvania, bringing it into the modern era. It enables and encourages small businesses like mine to add thousands of great paying jobs that cannot be exported overseas. The future of solar energy is shining brightly today.”

Despite the modest current renewable energy goals in Tier I, Pennsylvania’s clean energy economy boasts over 8,700 existing jobs in renewable energy, according to the 2018 Clean Jobs Pennsylvania report from Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) and Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance.

Most of those jobs have been added in the past 10 years, and The Solar Foundation determined Pennsylvania has continued to add solar jobs in both of the last two years, despite a national downturn due to federal policies.

For more information, visit the Renewables Work for PA Coalition website.

(Photo: Elizabethtown College solar array.)

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