The House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee is scheduled to meet on February 20 to hear a presentation on the Forge the Future plan by the PA Chamber of Business and Industry and PA Manufacturers’ Association.

Forge The Future is an initiative of Pennsylvania businesses across the state calling for a new era of economic growth in Pennsylvania.

The plan includes Ideas for Action, a report that highlights specific actions the Commonwealth can and should implement to capitalize on its world-class energy assets and grow its way to more revenue, population and job growth.

Among the recommendations are--

-- Cabinet-Level Energy Executive:Pennsylvania should create a cabinet-level leadership position (Energy Secretary, Executive, or “Czar”) with exclusive responsibility for driving energy-enabled economic development in the state. This would give appropriate status to the energy economy and its potential to create significant GDP, jobs, wages and population growth impact.

-- Pennsylvania Energy Investment Office:  Create a new Pennsylvania Energy Investment Office, led by a cabinet-level executive, to be the Commonwealth’s one-stop resource for helping streamline the process of doing energy business in PA – serving as an ombudsman to coordinate regulatory, permitting and other needs. The office should be staffed and funded appropriately, with the goal of leveraging economic growth, which, as this and other studies/reports have estimated, could be more than $60 billion.

-- Create Statewide Energy Investment Strategy: This new office would be charged with creating and leading a well-defined statewide energy business and investment strategy. This could include an energy-focused business attraction/investment resource kit for local and regional economic development agencies, and regular interaction to coordinate and collaborate on energy-related economic development.

-- Streamline Pipeline Permitting Process: Developing Natural gas transmission and distribution is vital to utilizing the abundant resource across the state, and delivering NGLs and LNG to export terminals, including a potential Penn America LNG facility in Chester County. Many regulatory hurdles exist, including oversight at both the state and federal level for natural gas infrastructure projects.

-- Expand Pipeline Investment Program: which currently provides grants to construct the last few miles of natural gas distribution lines to business parks and existing manufacturing and industrial enterprises, to include residential uses.

-- Natural Gas Micro-Grids: Create partnerships with organizations and institutions that operate large physical plants (government, universities, health care institutions) to build gas-fueled micro-grids for power generation

-- New Distributed Energy Technology: Develop partnerships between industries and STEM- focused colleges and universities to explore new technologies in distributed energy

-- Encourage CHP, Fuel Cells: Leverage utility ratemaking policy to facilitate adoption of natural gas as a heating and power source (such as CHP and fuel cells)

-- Convert Transit Fleets To Gas, Support Fueling Infrastructure: Seek federal and state assistance to convert all major transit fleets to gas powered buses; Support installation of natural gas fueling stations at all PA Turnpike service plazas; Develop port infrastructure for natural gas fueling on cargo ships in Philadelphia to take advantage of the eventual move from high-sulfur diesel.

--  District Energy Zones: where long-term Power Purchase Agreements would incent use of natural gas-fueled micro-grids for manufacturing facilities and support the work of the CHP working group within the Public Utility Commission to identify additional ways to help manufacturers adopt CHP solutions for their facilities.

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The meeting will be held in Room B-31 of the Main Capitol starting at 10:00.  Committee meetings are typically webcast through the PA House Republican website.

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) serves as Majority Chair of the House Environmental Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-783-1707 or sending email to: dmetcalf@pahousegop.com. Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-7647 or sending email to: gvitali@pahouse.net.

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