|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
|
State
Rep. Greg Vitali |
|
Energy legislation introduced in House, Senate
HARRISBURG, Jan. 28 – Energy legislation being introduced in the House and Senate that would increase alternative energy requirements and provide for the capture and sequestration of carbon, which ultimately contributes to climate change, was outlined at a Capitol news conference today.
State Rep. Greg Vitali, D-Delaware, was joined by state Rep. Chris Ross, R-Chester, both co-sponsors of the House bill; Sen. Ted Erickson, R-Delaware, sponsor of the Senate bill; Department of Environmental Protection acting-Secretary John Hanger; state Rep. Kate Harper, R-Montgomery, and Steve Stroman representing PennFUTURE. Other supporters of the legislation include state Reps. Eugene DePasquale, D-York, and Bryan Lentz, D-Delaware.
House Bill 80/Senate Bill 92 would:
· increase Tier I requirements by 20 percent from 2021 through 2026. Tier I requirements are the amount of electricity that electric distribution companies must purchase from renewable sources;
· increase the amount of electricity from solar photovoltaic panels that electricity companies must purchase and use to 3 percent by 2026;
· require that 3 percent of energy purchased by electric distribution companies must come from coal fired power plants that use the latest technology to reduce emissions and can connect to carbon sequestration facilities; and
· require Pennsylvania to develop, own and operate a carbon dioxide sequestration network to store captured carbon.
"This legislation will put Pennsylvania at the forefront in the battle against climate change," Vitali said. "It will also create jobs."
Ross said the future of Pennsylvania and its electric power provision is really a bipartisan issue that everyone needs to deal with.
"We have seen a proliferation of renewable portfolio standards across the country, since we passed our standards in 2004," Ross said. "We need to update and extend our standards to encourage renewable energy companies to invest here in Pennsylvania."
Vitali said coal is a source of energy and a cornerstone of the economy in many parts of the state.
"But coal production is not environmentally friendly," he said. "New technology that provides for carbon reduced coal generation can put Pennsylvania at the forefront of an industry that is new and can provide for economic benefits across the state with the updating of current facilities and the construction of new facilities used to generate cleaner energy."
Erickson said that since the passage of Act 13 in 2004, the alternative energy portfolio standards legislation, the state has met great success in developing the economics of the issue.
"This today is an attempt to continue that and to put some certainty into the longevity of our approach," Erickson said.
The measures are supported by the administration, and DEP acting Secretary John Hanger said the governor understands that the future of Pennsylvania is tied to energy.
"We need to make sure that Pennsylvania is not only a place where clean energy is used, but also a place where clean energy is produced," Hanger said. "We're after, to put it simply, jobs. The alternative energy sector happens to be one of the parts of our economy, both the national economy and the world economy, that is growing, and growing rapidly. It's growing with wind, it's growing with solar. The world is going to have to come to a set of technologies that captures carbon and stores it in order to deal with the challenge of climate change."
###