Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell Unveils $850M Clean Energy Fund

Earlier this month Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell announced a broad state strategy to improve the state’s energy independence, support alternative energy business, and reduce the state’s environmental impact. The key element of the new state plan is an $850 million Energy Independence Fund, designed to reduce energy costs for consumers and shift the state’s usage toward clean and renewable sources. Gov. Rendell hopes the plan will save Pennsylvania consumers $10 billion over the next 10 years by lowering energy costs and reducing consumption.

The governor’s Energy Independence Fund will support the development and adoption of clean energy technologies across the state and in consumer households. Activities supported by the fund include:

* $106 million – Venture capital, grants and loans for the expansion of energy companies

o $56 million – Energy Independence Greenhouse

o $50 million – Energy Independence Capital

* $500 million – Clean energy projects and development or equipment costs for specific energy economic development projects

* $244 million – Household appliance rebates and PA Sunshine Grants

Clean energy entrepreneurs and businesses in the state will receive new support through the fund’s venture investments. A $56 million Energy Independence Greenhouse, administered by the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, will fund translational research, entrepreneurial training, start-up incubation, and early-stage funding for alternative energy companies. The state also will provide $50 million to venture capital partnerships that invest in the Pennsylvania energy industry. Companies, nonprofit organizations, and local governments will be able to apply for grants and loans through the Pennsylvania Energy Development Agency for energy-related economic development projects, solar manufacturing, waste coals, biofuels, energy conservation and efficiency, and other energy management projects.

This support will complement investments made by the state Treasury Department’s $40 million Keystone Green Fund, announced last year (see the Oct. 23, 2006 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest). The Keystone Fund will provide private equity and debt investments, venture capital placements, and project financing for projects related to alternative power sources.

Consumers would directly benefit through several of the new programs. The PA Sunshine program would boost solar energy use in the state by covering up to 50 percent of the cost of installing solar panels on residences or small businesses. Under the governor’s plan, consumers also would be given new tools to reduce their energy costs and to take control over the types of electric power they receive. Consumers will have the right to have smart meters installed in their home, which provide more detail about their electricity use. Any power company seeking to build new plants would first have to prove that it has actively made this tool available to its customers.

The plan would strengthen the state’s renewable fuels standard to require that every gallon of gasoline sold in the state contain at least 10 percent ethanol. Gov. Rendell also has announced that within the next 90 days he will unveil a state plan to combat global climate change.

Read the press release at: http://www.state.pa.us/papower/cwp/view.asp?A=11&Q=459791

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