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Pennsylvania

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State Planning and Incentive Structures | Energy Efficiency Actions | Energy Supply Actions

State Planning and Incentive Structures

Lead By Example—Energy Efficiency in Public Facilities

Status: Completed

Details: Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell laid out a plan on June 17, 2008, for cutting the state government’s annual energy bill by an estimated $8 million annually. The initiatives include reducing energy consumption in state buildings by 10% through such means as turning up thermostats from 74 to 75 degrees in summer months and turning off items such as lamps or hot water heaters during peak use times. The state will also switch to motion-sensor lighting from manual switches and buy compact fluorescent light bulbs instead of incandescent ones.
Executive Order 2004-12 (Dec. 2004) requires the Department of General Services to work with state agencies on effective methods to include energy efficiency into new and existing state buildings. The order also lists a range of no-cost or low-cost energy conservation measures for all Commonwealth-owned and leased buildings and directs each state agency to develop a long-range energy use and conservation plan.

Lead By Example—Energy Efficient Appliance and Equipment Purchase Requirements for Public Facilities

Status: Completed

Details: Executive Order 2004-12 (December 2004) requires the Department of General Services, in its capacity as the centralized coordinator of the State's energy management and conservation measures in Commonwealth facilities for the Executive Agencies, to procure ENERGY STAR and other energy efficient products where economical and consistent with life cycle cost analysis.

Lead By Example—Clean Energy Goals for Public Facilities

Status: Completed

Details: Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell laid out a plan on June 17, 2008, for cutting the state government’s annual energy bill by an estimated $8 million annually. The initiatives
included increasing the state's purchase of energy from alternative sources from 30% of all electricity used to 50% by mid-2010.
PA had a commitment to purchase 5% of its power from renewable resources, but in October 2004 the Environmental Protection secretary announced a doubling of that commitment to 10%. Four-year contracts with Community Energy Inc. and Strategic Energy LLC committed the state to purchase 10% of state government's electricity from renewable sources such as wind, waste coal and hydroelectric energy. PA is also a member of the EPA Green Power Partnership.

Lead By Example—Energy Efficiency and Alternative Fuel Goals for Public Fleets

Status: Completed

Details: Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell laid out a plan on June 17, 2008, for cutting the state government’s annual energy bill by implementing stricter travel policies to encourage employees to carpool or use conference calling, which would reduce fuel consumption by 5% annually. He also wants to buy 50 more hybrids next year and reduce the number of sport utility vehicles in the state fleet.
The Governor's Green Transportation Plan (August 2005) created an alternative-fuel pilot project that called for the purchase of 30 hybrid vehicles for the state fleet by 2006, to be increased to 50 by 2008, and 75 by 2010. By 2011, at least 25% of all new passenger vehicles purchased for the fleet will be hybrid.

State and Regional Energy Planning

Status: Completed

Details: Governor Rendell released his Energy Independence Strategy on February 1, 2007. This plan will expand the alternative fuel, clean energy and conservation sectors, and create an Energy Independence Fund. The plan's main aims are: (1) save $10 billion in energy costs by 2017; (2) reduce reliance on foreign fuels and increase clean energy production capacity; and (3) expand PA's energy production and energy technology sectors to create more jobs. In April 2006, the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority issued its Draft Pennsylvania Energy Development Plan. Its objectives include enhancing energy diversity and security, promoting cleaner energy production, increasing economic growth in the clean energy sector, and promoting energy efficiency and technological innovation.

Determining the Air Quality Benefits of Clean Energy—Energy Efficiency/Renewable Energy Set Asides (NOX Budget Trading Program)

Status: No Activity Identified

Determining the Air Quality Benefits of Clean Energy—Energy Efficiency/Renewable Energy Set Asides (CAIR Budget Trading Program)

Status: Proposed

Details: Pennsylvania is working towards creating an energy efficiency/renewable energy set-aside under their CAIR implementation rule.

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Energy Efficiency Actions

Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standards

Status: Completed

Details: House Bill 1203 (signed July 17, 2007) modified the state Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard, giving the state Public Utility Commission power to track and verify energy efficiency measures. The governor approved the original Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, SB1030 on November 30, 2004. The Act is a hybrid of an energy efficiency portfolio standard and a renewable portfolio standard. Electricity producers may build a portfolio of renewable and/or energy efficient electric energy.

Public Benefit Funds for Energy Efficiency

Status: Completed

Details: The Pennsylvania Utility Commission administers a customer charge of $0.0005/kWh (2006), which goes to a Sustainable Energy Fund. The Fund promotes both renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Building Codes for Energy Efficiency—Commercial Programs

Status: Goes Beyond ECPA

Details: The Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code includes the 2006 I-Codes and 2006 IECC codes for all designs or construction contracts and is mandatory statewide; can use COMcheck to show compliance.

Building Codes for Energy Efficiency—Residential Programs

Status: Goes Beyond ECPA

Details: The Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code includes the 2006 I-Codes and 2006 IECC codes for all designs or construction contracts and is mandatory statewide. Can use REScheck to show compliance.

State Appliance Efficiency Standards

Status: No Activity Identified

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Energy Supply Actions

Renewable Portfolio Standards

Status: Completed

Details: Signed by the governor on July 17, 2007, HB 1203 provided a more detailed solar schedule, clarified the force majeure clause, confirmed REC property rights for generators, added solar thermal to Tier I, clarified that AEPS RECs cannot have been retired for other purposes, and expanded the definition of customer-generator.
Pennsylvania's AEPS (SB 1030), enacted November 30, 2004, requires energy companies in PA to supply 18% using alternative sources by 2020. It provides for a solar set-aside mandating a percentage of PV-generated electricity. The standard includes demand-side management as an eligible measure. PA is the first state to include waste coal, coal mine methane, and coal gasification in its portfolio standard. The standard calls for 8% of PA electricity to be generated by Tier I energy sources and 10% by Tier II (18% total) sources by 2020.

Public Benefit Funds for Clean Energy Supply

Status: Completed

Details: The Pennsylvania Utility Commission administers a customer charge of $0.0001/kWh, which goes to a Sustainable Energy Fund. This fund should raise $6 million annually for renewable energy.

Output-Based Environmental Regulations

Status: In Progress

Details: Pennsylvania has proposed allocating CAIR allowances to existing and new units on an output-basis.

Interconnection Standards—Clean Distributed Generation

Status: Completed/Further Work In Progress

Details: In July 2007, Pennsylvania enacted H.B. 1203, which called for new net-metering interconnection standards. However, in July 2008, the PUC issued a final rulemaking order, L-00050174, revising the state's net metering standards, but leaving interconnection standards the same. A separate rule was proposed in August 2008, M-0051865, defining application fees for different levels of interconnection. Pennsylvania's existing interconnection rules are based on the MADRI model.

Interconnection Standards—Net Metering

Status: Completed/Further Work In Progress

Details: Statewide net metering for certain utility types. HB 1203, enacted in July 2007, requires the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) to develop technical and net-metering interconnection rules for customer-generators intending to operate renewable onsite generators in parallel with the electric utility grid. The new regulations will implement the provisions of HB 1203, which expanded net metering in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania's Public Utility Code states that qualifying facilities less than 50kW may opt for net energy billing. On June 22, 2006, the PA PUC adopted revised net metering rules for photovoltaics, solar-thermal energy, wind energy, hydropower, geothermal energy, biomass energy, fuel cells, combined heat and power, municipal solid waste, waste coal, coal-mine methane, and other forms of distributed generation.

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