House Environmental Committee Hears Comments On Alternative Energy/Climate Bill

The House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee this week held a hearing on House Bill 80 (Vitali-D-Delaware) which would expand the state's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards and help create a carbon sequestration network to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

 

A similar bill --Senate Bill 92--was introduced by Sen. Ted Erickson (R-Delaware).

 

Both bills would increase the proportion of electricity that electric distribution companies must purchase from renewable sources such as wind and solar to 20 percent by 2026.

 

They also would increase the amount of electricity from solar photovoltaic panels that electricity companies must purchase and use to 3 percent by 2026; require Pennsylvania to develop and operate a carbon capture and sequestration network for coal-burning power plants in the state; and require 3 percent of the energy purchased by electric distribution companies in Pennsylvania to come from coal-fired power plants that sequester carbon.

 

"If this were enacted, it would remove 16 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which equates to 3 million cars being taken off the road," Rep. Vitali said.

 

The hearing included testimony from several public speakers including John Quigley, Acting secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection; John Hanger, secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; Norman Shilling, carbon leader for GE Gasification, GE Energy; Mike Welsh of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; and Nathan Willcox of

PennEnvironment.

 

"Pennsylvania must find a way to burn coal as cleanly as possible, since we will very likely be relying on it as a fuel source for many years to come. House Bill 80 addresses this critical issue head-on," Acting Secretary Quigley said.

 

Secretary Hanger said that the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard, or AEPS, has been a great success for the Commonwealth, attracting new investments, creating jobs and diversifying our energy supply.

 

"To preserve the Commonwealth’s position as a leader in alternative energy and the investment and jobs that result, we must increase and expand the current AEPS," Secretary Hanger said.

 

Shilling said, "Climate change policy will require that we use coal in a different manner for it to be

environmentally acceptable. In response, we believe that there is a pressing need for 'A New Face of Coal' built on a fundamental shift to technology such as Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle with carbon capture and sequestration that breaks long-held perceptions of coal."

 

Also providing written comments to the Committee were: Electric Power Generation Association, Andrew Place, Carnegie Mellon University, The Solar Alliance,PA Coal Association andGreen Energy Capital Partners.

 

The next step for this bill is a vote by the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and consideration by the full House, which Vitali hopes will happen before the House breaks for the summer.