Wednesday, August 1st 2012

From the Newsroom at Community Energy

“With a continued commitment to clean energy, the Philadelphia Phillies agreed to purchase more than 22 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of Renewable Energy Credits matching 100% of their electricity usage with wind and solar generation. Opting for the top choice in green electricity with the highest environmental benefit, the purchase commits to a significant portion of generation from local sources, including a slice from a new solar generation project under development in Lancaster County by Pennsylvania-based renewable energy supplier, Community Energy, Inc.  The annual environmental benefit equals that of 2,942 zero-emission passenger vehicles or the same as planting 285,000 trees and growing them for ten years.  By staying local the purchase also invests in jobs in the region.

The two-year commitment is part of the Phillies’ Red Goes Green program, an effort to lead the way in the clean energy movement at professional sports venues.  In 2008, the Phillies became the first Major League Baseball team to join the EPA’s Green Power Partnership (GPP) program, a voluntary program that encourages organizations to buy green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with purchased electricity use. Today, the Phillies are still the largest purchaser of renewable energy among MLB teams.”

Read more at Community Energy’s Newsroom…

Wednesday, July 25th 2012

Do Renewable Energy Tax Credits Actually Net Revenue for Governments? One group posits that the US’ federal Investment Tax Credit does.

 “such a hefty tax break – 30 percent of the cost of a system, with no maximum credit – must really end up costing the Treasury and adding to the country’s budget deficit, right?

Uh, no.

At least, not according to an analysis [PDF] from the the U.S. Partnership for Renewable Energy Finance, which describes itself as “a coalition of senior level financiers who invest in all sectors of the energy industry, including renewable energy.”

In its new paper, the group calculates that in the increasingly common lease and power-purchase agreement scenarios, a $10,500 residential solar credit — the ostensible, approximate cost to the Treasury of a typical 5-kilowatt home system – “can deliver a $22,882 nominal benefit to the government.” Similary, a $300,000 commercial solar credit can mean $677,627 to the federal coffers.”

Click here to read more via Earth Techling.

Sunday, July 8th 2012

From State Impact:

“If a shop­per was weigh­ing whether or not to buy a nat­ural gas-fueled car, the top item on the “pro” side would with­out a doubt be the cost of fuel: right now the gallon-equivalent of com­pressed nat­ural gas costs less than  half as much as a gal­lon of gasoline.

That is, if you can find a place to fill up. Because the top “con” would be the fact there are only a dozen publicly-accessible nat­ural gas fuel­ing sta­tions in Penn­syl­va­nia.  That $1.75-a-gallon price tag doesn’t look so great when you’re stranded on the side of the Turn­pike with an empty fuel tank.

The Cor­bett Admin­is­tra­tion has made expand­ing the num­ber of nat­ural gas-fueled vehi­cles on Penn­syl­va­nia roads a pri­or­ity, and is prepar­ing to spend $20 mil­lion on the effort over the next three years. Gov­er­nor Corbett’s moti­va­tions are three-fold: nat­ural gas-run vehi­cles release far fewer emis­sions into the air than gaso­line or diesel cars and trucks; they’re also a step, he argues, in the direc­tion of Amer­i­can energy independence.”

Read More…

Wednesday, June 27th

Ron Celentano has posted an update on the Solar Jobs Bill (HB 1580) over at the PA Solar Energy Industries Association Blog.

It looks doubtful that the House will consider the legislation prior to the summer recess, but Senator David Argall has introduced a Senate version of the bill, meaning it could be considered in the Fall.

Read the full post here.

Wednesday, June 20th 2012

Thermometers aren’t the only thing rising as the summer heats up. If you are frustrated
with high energy bills its time to call EnergyWorks.

Serving homeowners and commercial building owners in the Greater Philadelphia region, EnergyWorks provides federally subsidized, low-interest loans that can be used for a wide range of energy efficiency improvements.

EnergyWorks has streamlined the home and commercial efficiency retrofit process. They’ll provide a thorough, discounted assessment from a BPI Certified contractor, who will produce a list of recommended improvements prioritized by cost-effectiveness. Improvements can be financed with low-interest loans as low as .99%, with more comprehensive projects receiving the lowest rates.

Click here for more information about EnergyWorks.

Tuesday, June 12th 2012

From State Impact Pennsylvania

“Penn­syl­va­nia is hand­ing out money for nat­ural gas-fueled vehi­cle devel­op­ment, and the Depart­ment of Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion wants you to know about it.

The new impact fee law, Act 13, pro­vides $20 mil­lion in grants for pur­chas­ing nat­ural gas-fueled vehi­cles, or con­vert­ing cars and trucks so they run on com­pressed nat­ural gas, or CNG. The money will only go to local gov­ern­ments, non­profit groups, or state-related or owned uni­ver­si­ties — you can’t apply for a grant to pur­chase a new fam­ily car.

 DEP has set up a web­site with infor­ma­tion about the grant pro­gram. The por­tal says the agency will hold forums on nat­ural gas-fueled vehi­cles over the com­ing months.”

Read more…

Wednesday, June 6th 2012 

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Smart Energy Initiative joined the other four Chester County-based Industry Partnerships, the Hire One Initiative and the ideas x innovation network (i2n) in thanking it’s volunteers from the Board, Working Groups, Committees, and youth events on June 6th at Penn State Great Valley.

Thanks to our volunteers!