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!

Thursday, June 14th 2012

Chester County Economic Development Council
737 Constitution Drive
Exton, PA 19341
Map

$25 – Click here to register

Friday, May 25th 2012

Ever wonder what the cost of energy is at this very moment? Valley Forge-based PJM (whose grid covers much of Southeastern Pennsylvania) has a new tool allowing consumers to monitor real time energy pricing, thereby encouraging the shifting of energy-intensive activities to less expensive times of the day and leveling demand and electricity prices.

Bookmark the Electricity Price Ticker now and check back at different times of the day and as the weather warms this weekend. To convert $/MWh to cents/kWh simply divide the number by 10. Remember this is only the generation portion of your total electricity price.

Click to see real-time energy pricing from PJM

Monday, May 21st 2012

BP has officially begun construction of the 141MW Mehoopany wind project in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, west of Scranton. When commissioned (probably early 2013) the project will consist of 88 1.6MW turbines, producing enough clean energy to power 40,000 homes. The project will create 250 jobs during the construction and commissioning phases.

The costs are around $2.00 per megawatt, making the energy produced cost-competitive despite a record low natural gas prices.

For more information click here (via citizensvoice.com)

Monday, May 14th 2012

Our May newsletter just went out, which includes a events and updates from our various initiatives. Check it out here.

Want it delivered to your inbox? Click here.