The Senate this week passed Special Session Senate Bill 25 (Waugh-R-York) that updates Pennsylvania's alternative energy law to include biomass and low-impact hydropower energy resources, according to Sen. Mary Jo White (R-Venango), who chairs the Senate Special Session Committee on Energy Policies.

Sen. White said Special Session Senate Bill 25 corrects the exclusion of resources which were intended to be included with passage of the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act of 2004. The resources were inadvertently omitted or nullified by subsequent Department of Environmental Protection and Public Utility Commission legal interpretations which failed to reflect the legislative intent of the law.

The bill also incorporates provisions found in Special Session Senate Bill 31, sponsored by Sen. Don White (R-Indiana). The bill also:

· Limits the resources clarified as part of Tier 1 sources to only those generated in Pennsylvania. This provision is very similar to the underlying provision of the entire AEPS law which limits eligible resources within a defined geographic area and is similar to limitations found in other states with renewable portfolio standards.

· Directs the PUC to increase the existing Tier I percentages required under the AEPS law by an amount equal to those credits generated under the bill. Therefore, there is no negative impact on existing Tier 1 alternative energy resources.

Sen. Mary Jo White worked directly with affected wind and other renewable energy companies to find common ground on this important issue.

"This is a common-sense provision that corrects disparities within the current AEPS while protecting other existing renewable resources like wind and solar," said Sen. Mary Jo White.

12/7/2007