This Solar Saving Week, coalition of organizations rally around increasing PA’s solar energy goals

HARRISBURG, PA – As Daylight Saving Time ends, “Solar Saving Week” is just beginning as a coalition of organizations and their supporters come together to make sure Pennsylvania does not “Fall Back” in the national race to create cleaner and more affordable solar energy opportunities. This week, groups including the Pennsylvania Solar Center, Pennsylvania Solar & Storage Industries Association (PASSIA), Vote Solar, Solar United Neighbors of Pennsylvania, Evangelical Environmental Network, Philadelphia Solar Energy Association (PSEA), Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia (SBN), Renewables Work for PA (RW4PA), Clean Energy Cooperative, PennFuture and SEEDS of Northeast PA are calling on legislators to increase PA’s renewable energy goals as the current goals in the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) of 2004 have expired.
The coalition stated:
“Over the past several years, we have been watching the solar industry rapidly take off in other states and serve as a catalyst for billions of dollars in economic growth – particularly in our neighboring states of Maryland, Virginia, New York, and New Jersey. Pennsylvania’s solar sector, on the other hand, has only grown at a small fraction of its pace due to our outdated and insufficient renewable energy goals, which have not been updated for nearly 20 years and which flatlined this past May. It’s past time these goals were brought up-to-date to reflect today’s energy and economic needs. That’s why this Solar Saving Week, we are bringing together businesses, farmers, educational and faith institutions, municipalities, and homeowners to call their legislators to urge them to increase our state’s solar energy goals. Everyday Pennsylvanians are spreading the word this week about how solar has, or could have, benefited them by saving money in energy costs and promoting economic opportunities including family-sustaining jobs.”
Pennsylvania reached its renewable energy goal of 8 percent, of which just 0.5 percent is solar in May of this year. In comparison, Virginia’s renewable energy goal is currently 30 percent, Maryland and New Jersey’s 50 percent, and New York’s 70 percent, all by 2030.
Since achieving its original renewable energy goals, Pennsylvania has created almost 10,000 renewable energy jobs. Several pieces of legislation were introduced with bipartisan support earlier this year, but there has been no action so far by the General Assembly on any of them.
It has been projected that increasing the goals to at least 5% solar would create more than 50,000 jobs, preserve thousands of family farms (PA lost more than 7,000 between 2012 and 2017), and help countless cash-strapped municipalities and nonprofits make ends meet – particularly institutions of faith and education. However, these bills have not been voted out of any committee since April and there is no sign of movement.
The coalition continued, “In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have a real opportunity to make Pennsylvania’s economy stronger than ever by unlocking the power of solar energy. Increasing the Commonwealth’s solar energy goals will not only create tens of thousands of jobs and bring billions of dollars in private investment to our state, but it will also add much-needed diversity to our electrical grid to keep rates low and reliability high for all energy consumers at a time when many struggles to make ends meet – all without requiring significant government spending.”