A Solar Only Bill for PA - Help Make it a Reality

The PASEIA Steering Committee has begun the push for a PA SOLAR ONLY BILL - in addition to removing many of the controversial elements from HB2405 which resulted in one ammendment after another, eventually weighing down the bill so much that it did not make it to a floor vote, a Solar Only Bill is already bringing the PA solar community together and building a strong coalition to fight for our solar rights!

Come September, we will have only 17 legislative days to pass the bill, and we will be competing with a severence tax re: Marcellus Shale and a transportation bill. We will need all hands on deck to send a strong signal to PA businesses, legislators and the public that solar legislation is critical to PA's energy future.

Get involved! Email paseia@mseia.net to find out how you can help.

Doing solar business in PA? Do not underestimate the importance of policy. This type of legislation is what you need to guarantee the continued success of your solar business in PA.

From last week's Philadelphia Inquirer: (Thank you Diane Mastrull!)

With Delaware moving to 3.5 percent, Maryland to 2 percent, and New Jersey setting new megawatt requirements that equate to about 3 percent, Pennsylvania is losing solar ground in the region. That puts it at risk of losing the approximately 600 solar businesses it has and being unable to lure others, industry advocates contend.

So instead of waiting until next year to renew the push for passage of H.B. 2405, solar proponents are launching a new plan of attack. (YES PASEIA THAT'S US! :))

They want the legislature to embrace the idea of a stand-alone bill that would hike the state's solar-energy requirements only. That would leave other aspects of the controversial H.B. 2405 - nuclear power and clean coal, for instance - for later consideration.

"It's really important we have this bill to move the industry from a rebate-dependent energy source to a more market-driven energy source," Maureen Mulligan of Sustainable Futures Communications said in an interview. She is the chief lobbyist in Pennsylvania for the two largest solar-energy trade associations in the region: Solar Alliance and the Mid-Atlantic Solar Energy Industries Association/Pennsylvania division.

Mulligan will attempt to make her case for a solar-only bill at a House Majority Policy Committee hearing on alternative-energy issues in Worcester, Montgomery County, Wednesday afternoon.

The PASEIA Steering Committee has begun the push for a PA SOLAR ONLY BILL - in addition to removing many of the controversial elements from HB2405 which resulted in one ammendment after another, eventually weighing down the bill so much that it did not make it to a floor vote, a Solar Only Bill is already bringing the PA solar community together and building a strong coalition to fight for our solar rights!

Come September, we will have only 17 legislative days to pass the bill, and we will be competing with a severence tax re: Marcellus Shale and a transportation bill. We will need all hands on deck to send a strong signal to PA businesses, legislators and the public that solar legislation is critical to PA's energy future.

Read the full article here: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20100728_In_commitment_to_solar_energy__Pennsylvania_sees_neighbors_pull_ahead.html?nlid=3140847

Again, PLEASE GET INVOLVED: Email paseia@mseia.net to find out how you can help.