PA Senator, Geisinger Brief Local Chambers on Three New Bills

Pennsylvania’s Innovative Culture Continues

To some, Pennsylvania may be best known for its great historical significance—as home of the Liberty Bell and the place where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the U.S. Constitution drawn up.

But Pennsylvania has an equally strong history of innovation: being home to the nation’s first baseball stadium, first commercial broadcast station, and the world’s first high-speed, multi-lane highway to name just a few examples.

So perhaps not surprisingly a growing number of Pennsylvania leaders are now taking steps to seize the growing economic opportunities in energy innovation.

“This is a win-win for everyone,” PA Sen. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Allegheny/Washington) said in a recent briefing call with Local Chamber of Commerce Leaders from across the Keystone State.

Sen. Reschenthaler is a co-sponsor Senate Bill 234, which would allow municipalities to establish voluntary programs to provide financing for energy upgrades without any upfront costs.  Known as Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE), property owners re-pay the financing through a property assessment. C-PACE is offered in enabling legislation is active in 33 states plus Washington, D.C.  

SB 234 was overwhelmingly passed on the Senate floor 42-8 and is now being considered by the House Commerce Committee. Sen. Reschenthaler asked that Chamber leaders contact their legislators to voice their support. Read more about C-PACE.

“It’s about job creation in high paying fields such as electrical contractors, excavating, general construction, engineering, and so on,” Sen. Reschenthaler said. “It will lower energy costs for local businesses, increasing competitiveness.” Importantly, he added, the program uses funds from private institutions, not taxpayer dollars.

Asked why he became interested in CPACE, Reschenthaler said because he believes in energy independence and knows that renewables help contribute to that.

Geisinger Savings Through Efficiency

Co-hosted by the Columbia Montour Chamber, the briefing call was also an opportunity for Local Chamber leaders to hear from Geisinger Health, the largest health system in Pennsylvania, about how they are saving with energy efficiency.

“Energy is one of these topics that can benefit everyone,” said Al Neuner, VP of Facility Operations at Geisinger Health System. As a result of its investments in energy efficiency, Geisinger Hospital has saved $15 million in energy costs, Neuner said.

“And businesses do not have to be as large as Geisinger to benefit from energy efficiency—he noted, adding that it is very scalable and no-risk. Watch a video about Geisinger’s energy efficiency program.

“One of the things we can do as chambers is to play the role of conveyor and bring our business members, the community, the utility, and workforce development organizations together to exchange information so that clean energy, and clean energy workforce training is more relatable to all of our businesses and community members,” said Fred Gaffney, President of the Columbia Montour Chamber.

“There are people and resources there to help you pay for this,” he said, referring to Act 129, a law passed in 2008 to encourage energy efficiency and provides rebates for new appliances, lighting and windows and energy audits. Read more about Act 129.

A 2017 Public Utility Commission study found that Act 129 has delivered $6.4 billion in benefits for all electric consumers to date.

Growing Solar Jobs in PA

The speakers also briefed Local Chamber leaders on the recently passed Act 40, the Solar Jobs bill, aiming to limit state payments to out of state projects and grow jobs here in PA.

Ron Celentano, President of Pennsylvania’s Solar Energy Industry Association told the audience that up to 70 percent of the solar energy purchased in the state was coming from outside the state, said.

The new Solar Jobs bill corrected this by requiring that the solar come from within Pennsylvania.

“We see this as a great opportunity to have more solar jobs created within the state,” Celentano said. “And we’ve been seeing growth of solar jobs already since the passage.”

The call was co-hosted by the Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce and Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy. Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy will continue to keep you informed as these issues move forward.  

Learn more: Post-Gazette

CT Chambers Host Sen. Winfield and CT Green Bank President on Briefing Call

Green Bank says “Bring your projects, we have capital!”

Senator Winfield, (D-New Haven) co-chairs the Banking Committee, and the Energy and Technology Committee.

Here are his key messages to local chambers:

Sen. Winfield

• “If Connecticut wants to stay competitive in a region that is increasingly adopting clean energy, we need better policies.”

• “There are a lot of economic opportunities out there if we open ourselves to renewables.”

• “Renewable energy sources tend to generate more jobs and that means more economic activity and more opportunities.”

• “I think it’s great that the state is looking to get renewables to 40 percent, but I do think a more ambitious goal—something along the lines of 50 percent—also makes a lot of sense.”

The Senator, who is also the Deputy Majority Leader, made his comments during a February briefing call co-hosted by the two largest Local Chambers of Commerce in the state, Middlesex and Greater New Haven, in partnership with Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy.

“These issues are really important to me and to our chamber,” said Garrett Sheehan, incoming President and CEO of the Greater New Haven Chamber. “They are going to take a collaborative approach, and a key step is education, which is something calls like this provide.”

“Bring your projects, we have capital”

There is plenty of money available to finance cost-saving clean energy upgrades, said the Connecticut Green Bank’s President Bryan Garcia.

Bryan Garcia

“We are focused on driving and attracting more investment in clean energy because those are the foundations to economic growth and job creation,” Garcia said. One important tool for doing this is through a program known as Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy or C-PACE.

“C-PACE is an innovative and affordable way for businesses, manufacturing, and nonprofits to pay for clean energy improvements. It pays for 100 percent of the project costs with no money down,” said Garcia, adding: “It immediately increases cash flow while improving the overall value of the building.”

The Middlesex Chamber of Commerce recently teamed up with the Green Bank to bring C-PACE to its members. (Stay tuned for more information.)

“Energy is a critical issue to all our members and our Chamber, and we’re seeing C-PACE get more and more traction,” said Jeff Pugliese, Vice President of the Middlesex Chamber. 

Sen. Winfield asked Local Chambers to voice their clean energy support to their legislators, saying:

 “Chambers have a lot of influence in this building and have a lot of business owners who have influence. That influence should be used to express to legislators that clean energy funds will benefit the state of Connecticut.” He added, “It is not even a bipartisan issue, it is a nonpartisan issue.”

Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) will continue to keep you informed as these issues move forward. If your chamber is interested in learning more about how your members can benefit from C-PACE financing, contact Jessica Bergman of CICE at Jessica@ChambersforInnovation.com.

MA Lawmakers Discuss New Energy Legislation with Local Chambers

Massachusetts chambers and their member companies had an engaging dialogue with Rep. Golden (D – Lowell) and Sen. Pacheco (D – Taunton) on a Sept. 20th briefing call to learn more about the recently passed energy legislation, An Act to Promote Energy Diversity (H4568). Both legislators played key roles in the new legislation and are preparing for additional steps in 2017.

The major takeaways from the call were:

• The legislation aims to create a new offshore-wind industry in MA. The bill calls for 1600 MG of offshore wind energy and positions the Bay State to attract the investment and jobs associated with this new industry. Job growth is expected in the construction of the wind energy sites as well as in the manufacturing supply chain.  States along the eastern seaboard are vying to attract these investments.

• The energy storage provision in the legislation is a “game changer.”  Storing energy in batteries and other innovative technologies will help to lower energy costs and increase the reliability of the grid.

• The pairing of hydro and wind energy will result in the efficient utilization of transmission lines, which will help to lower costs.

• The legislation allows for Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (CPACE), a 100% voluntary finance mechanism that covers the up-front cost of energy improvements on commercial properties.

• This bill is just a first step and sets the framework for future legislation.

Both legislators said they will work on clean energy legislation in 2017 that will continue to move the Commonwealth into the future. Stay tuned!

To learn more about the legislation, click here.