PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 23 PRINTER'S NO. 31
No. 31 Special Session No. 1 of 2007-2008
INTRODUCED BY D. WHITE, RHOADES, WOZNIAK, M. WHITE, WONDERLING,
WAUGH AND BROWNE, NOVEMBER 2, 2007
SENATOR M. WHITE, ENERGY POLICIES, AS AMENDED, NOVEMBER 27, 2007
AN ACT
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 "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 * * *
20 "Alternative energy sources." The term shall include the
1 following existing and new sources for the production of
2 electricity:
3 (1) Solar photovoltaic or other solar electric energy.
4 (2) Solar thermal energy.
5 (3) Wind power.
6 (4) Large-scale hydropower, which shall mean the
7 production of electric power by harnessing the hydroelectric
8 potential of moving water impoundments, including pumped
9 storage that does not meet the requirements of low-impact
10 hydropower under paragraph (5).
11 (5) Low-impact hydropower consisting of any technology
12 that produces electric power and that harnesses the
13 hydroelectric potential of moving water impoundments,
14 provided such incremental hydroelectric development:
15 (i) does not adversely change existing impacts to
16 aquatic systems;
17 (ii) meets the certification standards established
18 by the Low Impact Hydropower Institute and American
19 Rivers, Inc., or their successors;
20 (iii) provides an adequate water flow for protection
21 of aquatic life and for safe and effective fish passage;
22 (iv) protects against erosion; [and] <--
23 (v) protects cultural and historic resources[.]; <--
24 RESOURCES. <--
25 (vi) has a nameplate capacity of 21 megawatts or <--
26 less; and
27 (vii) has a license issued by the Federal Energy
28 Regulatory Commission for the hydropower source on or
29 prior to January 1, 1984, and was held in whole or in
30 part by a municipality located wholly within this
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1 Commonwealth or by an electric cooperative located wholly
2 within this Commonwealth on July 1, 2007.
3 NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROVISIONS OF SUBPARAGRAPH (II), THE TERM <--
4 "LOW-IMPACT HYDROPOWER" SHALL ALSO INCLUDE A HYDROELECTRIC
5 DEVELOPMENT WHICH HAS A NAMEPLATE CAPACITY OF 21 MEGAWATTS OR
6 LESS AND HAS A LICENSE ISSUED BY THE FEDERAL ENERGY
7 REGULATORY COMMISSION FOR THE HYDROPOWER SOURCE ON OR PRIOR
8 TO JANUARY 1, 1984 AND WAS HELD IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY A
9 MUNICIPALITY LOCATED WHOLLY WITHIN THIS COMMONWEALTH OR BY AN
10 ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE WHOLLY WITHIN THIS COMMONWEALTH ON JULY
11 1, 2007.
12 (6) Geothermal energy, which shall mean electricity
13 produced by extracting hot water or steam from geothermal
14 reserves in the earth's crust and supplied to steam turbines
15 that drive generators to produce electricity.
16 (7) Biomass energy, which shall mean the generation of
17 electricity utilizing the following:
18 (i) organic material from a plant that is grown for
19 the purpose of being used to produce electricity or is
20 protected by the Federal Conservation Reserve Program
21 (CRP) and provided further that crop production on CRP
22 lands does not prevent achievement of the water quality
23 protection, soil erosion prevention or wildlife
24 enhancement purposes for which the land was primarily set
25 aside; or
26 (ii) any solid nonhazardous, cellulosic waste
27 material that is segregated from other waste materials,
28 such as waste pallets, crates and landscape or right-of-
29 way tree trimmings or agricultural sources, including
30 orchard tree crops, vineyards, grain, legumes, sugar and
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1 other crop by-products or residues.
2 (8) Biologically derived methane gas, which shall
3 include methane from the anaerobic digestion of organic
4 materials from yard waste, such as grass clippings and
5 leaves, food waste, animal waste and sewage sludge. The term
6 also includes landfill methane gas.
7 (9) Fuel cells, which shall mean any electrochemical
8 device that converts chemical energy in a hydrogen-rich fuel
9 directly into electricity, heat and water without combustion.
10 (10) Waste coal, which shall include the combustion of
11 waste coal in facilities in which the waste coal was disposed
12 or abandoned prior to July 31, 1982, or disposed of
13 thereafter in a permitted coal refuse disposal site
14 regardless of when disposed of, and used to generate
15 electricity, or such other waste coal combustion meeting
16 alternate eligibility requirements established by regulation.
17 Facilities combusting waste coal shall use at a minimum a
18 combined fluidized bed boiler and be outfitted with a
19 limestone injection system and a fabric filter particulate
20 removal system. Alternative energy credits shall be
21 calculated based upon the proportion of waste coal utilized
22 to produce electricity at the facility.
23 (11) Coal mine methane, which shall mean methane gas
24 emitting from abandoned or working coal mines.
25 (12) Demand-side management consisting of the management
26 of customer consumption of electricity or the demand for
27 electricity through the implementation of:
28 (i) energy efficiency technologies, management
29 practices or other strategies in residential, commercial,
30 institutional or government customers that reduce
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1 electricity consumption by those customers;
2 (ii) load management or demand response
3 technologies, management practices or other strategies in
4 residential, commercial, industrial, institutional and
5 government customers that shift electric load from
6 periods of higher demand to periods of lower demand; or
7 (iii) industrial by-product technologies consisting
8 of the use of a by-product from an industrial process,
9 including the reuse of energy from exhaust gases or other
10 manufacturing by-products that are used in the direct
11 production of electricity at the facility of a customer.
12 (13) Distributed generation system, which shall mean the
13 small-scale power generation of electricity and useful
14 thermal energy.
15 * * *
16 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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