The Montgomery County Planning Commission (MCPC) is seeking applications for the 2019 cycle of the Montco 2040 Implementation Grant Program. This program is intended to assist municipalities in making targeted physical improvements that achieve real progress toward the goals of the county’s comprehensive plan, Montco 2040: A Shared Vision.  Click here to learn more!

PA C_PACE Program Guidelines DRAFT PUBLIC COMMENT 20181219 (002)    ALLENTOWN, PA., December 19, 2018 – On December 18, 2018, Sustainable Energy Fund, Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance, the City of Pittsburgh’s Office of Sustainability and the Philadelphia Energy Authority released draft Program Guidelines for Pennsylvania’s Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Program (C-PACE). The Program Guidelines are being made available for public comment through January 18, 2019.

C-PACE is a financial tool for property owners to obtain low-cost, long-term financing for energy efficiency, renewable energy and water conservation projects. C-PACE can facilitate a loan for a project by placing a voluntary payment on the property that repays the costs of the upgrades. Pennsylvania C-PACE was created through enabling legislation in July of 2018.  Pennsylvania is the thirty-sixth state to adopt C-PACE legislation in the US. The bill was sponsored by Senator Blake and was passed with bipartisan support.

To develop the C-PACE program in Pennsylvania, four interested public-sector organizations have partnered: Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance (KEEA), Philadelphia Energy Authority, City of Pittsburgh Sustainability Commission and Sustainable Energy Fund. These organizations collaborated to launch the program and develop Program Guidelines that could be used by any municipality in the state. Sustainable Energy Fund is positioned to be the Program Administrator for any municipality that enacts C-PACE with the exception of Philadelphia, which will be administrated by The Philadelphia Energy Authority. All four organizations are committed to working together to ensure that the Program Guidelines are as similar as possible throughout the Commonwealth.

To gather additional input on the Program Guidelines, various stakeholders were invited to a series of meetings to discuss the details of C-PACE in Pennsylvania. Meetings were held in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia in October. The involved stakeholders ranged from members of local government to national capital providers. The meetings were well attended with a total of over 135 people. Meeting notes were taken and are available on the website at www.PennsylvaniaCPACE.org.

The aforementioned partners worked with a consulting group to develop the Program Guidelines, taking careful consideration of the stakeholder comments. The consulting group, Abacus Property Solutions, LLC includes the directors of the Wisconsin, Virginia and Maryland PACE programs as Pace Financial Services and PACE Nation. The Guidelines include property eligibility, project requirements, contractor

Comments will be accepted on the Program Guidelines until January 18, 2019. Comments will be addressed and Program Guidelines will be finalized at the end of January. The Guidelines can be accessed on the website at www.PennsylvaniaCPACE.org or by emailing cpace@thesef.org or calling 610-264-4440. If you have any questions about the Pennsylvania C-PACE program, please contact Sustainable Energy Fund. Currently SEF and KEEA are conducting outreach to counties about C-PACE and Philadelphia Energy Authority is moving the program forward in Philadelphia. SEF expects to have some counties pass C-PACE resolutions in the first quarter of 2019.

About Sustainable Energy Fund
Sustainable Energy Fund (SEF), a nonprofit organization, assists energy users in overcoming financial, educational and regulatory barriers to a sustainable energy future. SEF provides a variety of services including financing energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy projects; educating the leaders of today and tomorrow to create a passion for sustainable energy; and representing the interests of energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy in proceedings before the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. Visit www.thesef.org.

About Philadelphia Energy Authority

Philadelphia Energy Authority (PEA) is an independent municipal authority focused on issues of energy affordability and sustainability for Philadelphia. In early 2016, in partnership with City Council President Darrell L. Clarke, PEA launched the Philadelphia Energy Campaign, a $1 billion, 10-year investment in energy efficiency and clean energy projects in four sectors: city buildings, public schools, low- and moderate-income housing, and small businesses. PEA believes that energy is an important tool for economic development, reducing poverty, improving educational environments, strengthening communities, and preserving affordable housing. www.philaenergy.org

Emily Schapira, Executive Director, 215-686-4483.

About Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance

The Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance is a trade association of businesses, nonprofits, and institutions working to advance energy efficiency and energy conservation in Pennsylvania. Learn more at www.keealliance.org

Julian Boggs, Policy Director, 215-910-4790

Paul Spiegel, SEI Chair gave testimony on November 14 to Philadelphia City Council in favor of purchasing 100% of the electricity generated by a $110 million (70MW) solar array in Adams County, PA.  Paul’s part begins at 46:00.  The solar Bill comments begin at about 15:00. https://youtu.be/JdZB9hixzYM

By Jennifer Wentz, Central Penn Business Journal

Gov. Tom Wolf hopes a soon-to-launch initiative will help Pennsylvania boost sales and production of solar-generated electricity. View the entire press release here.

The initiative is set to kick off in January 2017 with a meeting of government, business and environmental experts, according to a news release from the governor’s office. Groups will continue to meet throughout the year, with the project culminating by January 2018 in a draft plan for Pennsylvania’s solar future.

The plan would be made available for public comment and, six months later, would be available for use by policy makers, regulators, businesses, investors and consumers.

“This is an important step forward for us to better understand how we can increase Pennsylvania’s solar footprint long-term, which will provide more options for consumers and decrease emissions,” Wolf said in the release. “Alternative energy and lower-emission fuels like natural gas will help to decrease the impacts of climate change, which we know will have negative impacts on our air, our health and important industries, including agriculture and tourism.”

The plan will address strategies for meeting state energy goals, how to cost-effectively integrate solar energy into the current grid and measures to help low-income consumers, among other issues.

The goal is to speed up solar’s role in the state’s energy economy and increase solar-generated in-state electricity sales to at least 10 percent by 2030.

A $550,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy will help fund the project.

On Tuesday, October 25th, PECO presented on Act 129, Phase III, at the Chester County Economic Development Council. Thirty- five people attended this Breakfast Briefing hosted by the Smart Energy Initiative.

PECO representatives shared new information about the Smart Ideas program measures and incentives, as well as new resources and tools to help you close more projects.

Presenters included Mary Hall, Program Manager (Commercial & Industrial) at PECO and Ed Piscopo, Senior Economic Development Specialist, Economic & Business Development, PECO.

To view a short video of the key takeaway messages, visit the link here.

You can view the entire presentation here~Peco Smart Ideas For Your Business

The Smart Energy Initiative can help your organization maintain a competitive workforce with a grant to offset partial costs of energy-related training (eligible employers/trainees can receive a reimbursement of up to 50% of course costs for each trainee). Funding is provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry and the Chester County Workforce Development Board.

Eligibility & Conditions

• Trainees must be employed residents of Pennsylvania
• Training must occur between July 1, 2016 and June 30^th 2017
• The following 29 courses are currently eligible for reimbursement for the 2016-2017 program year:
  1. Passive House Institute of US, Verifier Certification
  2. Passive House Institute of US, Certified Consultant
  3. LEED Green Associate
  4. LEED Accredited Professional
  5. Energy Modeling for LEED Projects
  6. WELL Accredited Professional
  7. Well Being Standard
  8. NORA Gold Tank
  9. NORA Gold Hydronics
  10. NORA Gold Venting
  11. NORA Combustion Tune Up
  12. NORA Bronze Basic Oil Heat Technician
  13. WaterFurnace International Geothermal Residential Forced Air Equipment Training
  14. Building operator trainings: Building Science of Commercial Buildings (AM), and Building Operator Training and Re-tuning (PM)
  15. Enterprise Green Community Standard Workshop
  16. Association of Energy Engineers Certified Water Efficiency professional (CWEP)
  17. Association of Energy Engineers Certified Energy Manager
  18. Association of Energy Engineers Certified Building Commissioning Professional (CBCP)
  19. Association of Energy Engineers Certified Measurement & Verification Professional (CMVP)
  20. Association of Energy Engineers Certified Lighting Efficiency Professional (CLEP)
  21. BPI Certified Building Analyst
  22. BPI Certified Envelope Professional
  23. BPI Infiltration and Duct Leakage Certification
  24. BPI Recertification
  25. BPI Healthy Home Evaluator (HHE) Certification
  26. BPI Multifamily Certification
  27. Passive House Institute US (PHIUS) Verifier
  28. North American Technical Excellence (NATE) Certified Technician
  29. BREEAM USA In-Use Assessor Certification

If you or your employees have taken any of the classes listed above and you have not yet applied for grant funds, please contact us.  If you have an energy industry related class in which you are interested in taking, or have already taken, during this time frame and it is not on the list above please contact us; we may be able to revise the list.

As a condition of the funding grant, recipients are asked to report a training outcome for each employee, such as a projected wage increase, new title, or promotion. As required by the Department of Labor and Industry, trainees must provide their social security number (SSN) and complete a brief training evaluation following completion of the training.     SSNs are not retained and are used for state reporting only.

Disallowable costs include: conferences; non-certification or credential seminars, travel or other expenses; and lost wages or salary reimbursement.

Contact the Smart Energy Initiative with questions, request more information, or to receive timely notifications of SEI-approved training in the region.