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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Greg Vitali
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Vitali: State should remain a leader in green energy use and jobs
HARRISBURG, Feb. 9 – State Rep. Greg Vitali said the General Assembly should heed the call Gov. Ed Rendell made today during the budget address for the state to remain a leader in renewable energy use and green jobs.
Vitali said the best way to do that is to approve his legislation, House Bill 80. State Sen. Ted Erickson, R-Delaware, has introduced companion legislation, S.B. 92, in his chamber.
"My legislation, House Bill 80, would increase Pennsylvania's clean energy portfolio standards, and in doing so, create many good-paying green jobs," said Vitali, D-Delaware. It's a win-win for Pennsylvania and the planet. We help the environment and we give our sputtering economy a boost."
Vitali's bill calls for an increase in Tier I requirements in Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards to 15 percent by 2024. Tier I requirements are the proportion of electricity that electric distribution companies such as PECO must purchase from renewable sources such as wind and solar. The requirement is now 8 percent by 2020. The bill also would increase the share of energy electric companies must obtain from solar photovoltaic sources to 3 percent by 2024. The requirement is now 0.5 percent by 2020.
Additionally, the bill also would require the establishment of a framework for a carbon dioxide capture and sequestration network to receive, via pipeline, carbon dioxide captured from power plants.
In his budget remarks, Rendell said Pennsylvania ranked second in the country in wind power growth in the second and third quarters of 2009. He also said that by year's end, Pennsylvania will be among the top five states generating solar power and would have more than 300 solar component companies.
But he cautioned that other states have enacted higher alternative energy standards in recent years.
"My bill is in place and is poised to be voted on by the full House as soon as early March," Vitali said. "My bill is about the future – for both energy and jobs."
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