On Monday, Nov. 13, Gov. Tom Wolf joined environmental advocates and state and local officials at Elizabethtown College for a mock signing of House Bill 118, which became law Monday, Oct. 30.
More than 80 were in attendance despite an unseasonably cold temperature.
House Bill 118 expands the use of solar energy across the Commonwealth and ensures that health and environmental benefits brought about by solar energy are available across the state. Most notably, the legislation now requires that solar energy that is produced in Pennsylvania stays in Pennsylvania.
The Bill, Wolf explained, guarantees an increase in renewable jobs, significant steps toward a cleaner environment and the promise of renewable economy in the Commonwealth.
This legislation is a game changer.”
“This legislation is a game changer,” Wolf said to the group gathered near the College’s 2.6-megawatt solar PV system. Owned and operated by Community Energy Solar, the E-town solar array is the largest higher education-sited layout in Pennsylvania. It was completed in 2016 through a Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority state grant.
Prior to the October signing, Pennsylvania allowed solar credits to be generated anywhere in the regional transmission region of Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia and North Carolina.
According to the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act of 2004, Pennsylvania must, each year, increase the percentage of the electricity that comes from renewable and clean energy sources. By 2021, half of one percent of electricity used in the Commonwealth must come from solar sources.
In addition to the governor, Monday’s speakers included Elizabethtown College board chair Bob Dolan, who introduced the governor; Sen. Mario M. Scavello; R. Brent Alderfer, CEO and founder of Community Energy; Patrick McDonnell, from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection; and State Rep. Mike Carroll.
Also attending the mock signing were Rep. Maureen Madden and Cindy Adams Dunn, Pennsylvania Secretary of Conservation and Natural Resources.
After speaking and signing of the mock legislation, Wolf met with attendees for questions and photos.