Posted: | January 18, 2019 02:17 PM |
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From: | Senator Thomas H. Killion and Sen. Daniel Laughlin, Sen. Timothy P. Kearney |
To: | All Senate members |
Subject: | Utility Energy Efficiency Investment |
In the near future, we will be introducing legislation to remove the investment cap on utility energy efficiency investment. In the first seven years of implementation of Pennsylvania’s flagship energy efficiency law, Act 129, energy efficiency programs have delivered $6.4 billion in economic benefits to all Pennsylvanians, at a benefit-to-cost ratio of nearly 2-to-1. By keeping energy use down, energy efficiency investments have helped Pennsylvania industries remain globally competitive, meet their corporate sustainability goals, and create good-paying local jobs. In fact, a 2017 US Department of Energy report found that energy efficiency accounts for over 62,000 Pennsylvania jobs. Currently, Pennsylvania’s annual saving from utility energy efficiency program lag behind our peer states—this is largely due in part to the restrictive law that limits utility investment in energy efficiency program to 2 percent in 2006 utility revenues. The cap artificially restricts the level of energy efficiency investment that Pennsylvania’s utilities can make to eliminate energy waste. This legislation will be similar to SB 1236 of the 2017-2018 Legislative Session which was introduced by Senator McGarrigle and was co-sponsored by the following Senators: Mensch, Blake, Scavello, Bartolotta, Killion, Rafferty, Dinniman and Argall. Please join us in co-sponsoring this important legislation to allow for all cost-effective investments in energy efficiency to occur. |
Introduced as SB232