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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| HOUSE BILL |
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| INTRODUCED BY EVERETT, BENNINGHOFF, CALTAGIRONE, COHEN, DENLINGER, GABLER, GEIST, GINGRICH, GROVE, HESS, JOSEPHS, MARSHALL, McGEEHAN, MILLARD, MURT, MYERS, O'NEILL, PRESTON, K. SMITH, SWANGER AND THOMAS, MAY 11, 2011 |
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| REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, MAY 11, 2011 |
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| AN ACT |
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1 | Amending the act of November 30, 2004 (P.L.1672, No.213), |
2 | entitled, "An act providing for the sale of electric energy |
3 | generated from renewable and environmentally beneficial |
4 | sources, for the acquisition of electric energy generated |
5 | from renewable and environmentally beneficial sources by |
6 | electric distribution and supply companies and for the powers |
7 | and duties of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission," |
8 | further providing for definitions. |
9 | The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
10 | hereby enacts as follows: |
11 | Section 1. The definition of "alternative energy sources" in |
12 | section 2 of the act of November 30, 2004 (P.L.1672, No.213), |
13 | known as the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, is |
14 | amended to read: |
15 | Section 2. Definitions. |
16 | The following words and phrases when used in this act shall |
17 | have the meanings given to them in this section unless the |
18 | context clearly indicates otherwise: |
19 | * * * |
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1 | "Alternative energy sources." The term shall include the |
2 | following existing and new sources for the production of |
3 | electricity: |
4 | (1) Solar photovoltaic or other solar electric energy. |
5 | (2) Solar thermal energy. |
6 | (3) Wind power. |
7 | (4) Large-scale hydropower, which shall mean the |
8 | production of electric power by harnessing the hydroelectric |
9 | potential of moving water impoundments, including pumped |
10 | storage that does not meet the requirements of low-impact |
11 | hydropower under paragraph (5). |
12 | (5) Low-impact hydropower consisting of any technology |
13 | that produces electric power and that harnesses the |
14 | hydroelectric potential of moving water impoundments, |
15 | provided such incremental hydroelectric development: |
16 | (i) does not adversely change existing impacts to |
17 | aquatic systems; |
18 | (ii) meets the certification standards established |
19 | by the Low Impact Hydropower Institute and American |
20 | Rivers, Inc., or their successors; |
21 | (iii) provides an adequate water flow for protection |
22 | of aquatic life and for safe and effective fish passage; |
23 | (iv) protects against erosion; and |
24 | (v) protects cultural and historic resources. |
25 | (6) Geothermal energy, which shall mean electricity |
26 | produced by extracting hot water or steam from geothermal |
27 | reserves in the earth's crust and supplied to steam turbines |
28 | that drive generators to produce electricity. |
29 | (7) Biomass energy, which shall mean the generation of |
30 | electricity utilizing the following: |
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1 | (i) organic material from a plant that is grown for |
2 | the purpose of being used to produce electricity or is |
3 | protected by the Federal Conservation Reserve Program |
4 | (CRP) and provided further that crop production on CRP |
5 | lands does not prevent achievement of the water quality |
6 | protection, soil erosion prevention or wildlife |
7 | enhancement purposes for which the land was primarily set |
8 | aside; [or] |
9 | (ii) any solid nonhazardous, cellulosic waste |
10 | material that is segregated from other waste materials, |
11 | such as waste pallets, crates and landscape or right-of- |
12 | way tree trimmings or agricultural sources, including |
13 | orchard tree crops, vineyards, grain, legumes, sugar and |
14 | other crop by-products or residues[.]; or |
15 | (iii) provided that it is segregated from other |
16 | waste materials, waste utility poles and railroad ties |
17 | used by facilities in operation within this Commonwealth |
18 | as of the effective date of this subparagraph, so long as |
19 | the facility employs the best available technology to |
20 | reduce or control emissions of air pollutants under the |
21 | act of January 8, 1960 (1959 P.L.2119, No.787), known as |
22 | the Air Pollution Control Act. |
23 | (8) Biologically derived methane gas, which shall |
24 | include methane from the anaerobic digestion of organic |
25 | materials from yard waste, such as grass clippings and |
26 | leaves, food waste, animal waste and sewage sludge. The term |
27 | also includes landfill methane gas. |
28 | (9) Fuel cells, which shall mean any electrochemical |
29 | device that converts chemical energy in a hydrogen-rich fuel |
30 | directly into electricity, heat and water without combustion. |
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1 | (10) Waste coal, which shall include the combustion of |
2 | waste coal in facilities in which the waste coal was disposed |
3 | or abandoned prior to July 31, 1982, or disposed of |
4 | thereafter in a permitted coal refuse disposal site |
5 | regardless of when disposed of, and used to generate |
6 | electricity, or such other waste coal combustion meeting |
7 | alternate eligibility requirements established by regulation. |
8 | Facilities combusting waste coal shall use at a minimum a |
9 | combined fluidized bed boiler and be outfitted with a |
10 | limestone injection system and a fabric filter particulate |
11 | removal system. Alternative energy credits shall be |
12 | calculated based upon the proportion of waste coal utilized |
13 | to produce electricity at the facility. |
14 | (11) Coal mine methane, which shall mean methane gas |
15 | emitting from abandoned or working coal mines. |
16 | (12) Demand-side management consisting of the management |
17 | of customer consumption of electricity or the demand for |
18 | electricity through the implementation of: |
19 | (i) energy efficiency technologies, management |
20 | practices or other strategies in residential, commercial, |
21 | institutional or government customers that reduce |
22 | electricity consumption by those customers; |
23 | (ii) load management or demand response |
24 | technologies, management practices or other strategies in |
25 | residential, commercial, industrial, institutional and |
26 | government customers that shift electric load from |
27 | periods of higher demand to periods of lower demand; or |
28 | (iii) industrial by-product technologies consisting |
29 | of the use of a by-product from an industrial process, |
30 | including the reuse of energy from exhaust gases or other |
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1 | manufacturing by-products that are used in the direct |
2 | production of electricity at the facility of a customer. |
3 | (13) Distributed generation system, which shall mean the |
4 | small-scale power generation of electricity and useful |
5 | thermal energy. |
6 | * * * |
7 | Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days. |
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