Gov. Rendell went to BJ’s Wholesale Outlet in Montgomery County this week to hold a third bill signing for the Advanced Energy Portfolio Standard legislation – Senate Bill 1030 sponsored by Sen. Erickson (R-Delaware) in the Senate and Rep. Ross (R-Chester) in the House.

The BJ’s Outlet has one of the largest solar energy installations in the Commonwealth. The company teamed up with Green Mountain Energy and Sun Power Electric to install 1,400 solar panels on the roof of its warehouse.

The 60-kilowatt array will generate 65,526 kilowatt hours of clean electricity each year for 20 years for the club, which provides members with a variety of wholesale merchandise. Over its lifetime, this installation will prevent approximately 4,603 pounds of smog-producing nitrogen oxide; 14,760 pounds of sulfur dioxide, which creates acid rain; and 1.96 million pounds of carbon dioxide.

The Erickson-Ross bill establishes a two-tiered portfolio standard that ensures in 15 years, 18 percent of all of the energy generated in Pennsylvania comes from clean, efficient sources. Act 213 of 2004 makes the Commonwealth the 18th state to adopt a renewable and advanced energy production provision.

Tier I requires 8 percent of electricity sold at retail in the state to come from traditional renewable sources such as solar photovoltaic energy, wind power, low-impact hydropower, geothermal energy, biologically derived methane gas, fuel cells, biomass energy or coal-mine methane. Notably, at least 0.5 percent of Tier I electricity must come from solar power --- a requirement that is at least three times more ambitious than anything any neighboring states have put in place and one that enhances the state's reputation as a clean energy leader.

Tier II requires 10 percent of the electricity to be generated from waste coal, distributed generation systems, demand-side management, large-scale hydropower, municipal solid waste, generation from pulping and wood manufacturing byproducts, and integrated combined coal gasification technology.

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Rendell Signs Advanced Energy Portfolio Bill

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12/17/2004