PennEnvironment letter of support for HB 2277, “Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Sustainability Standard”

Dear members of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee,

On behalf of PennEnvironment and our citizen members, activists and volunteers, I am writing in support of Representative Danielle Friel Otten’s “Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Sustainability Standard” (also referred to as “PRESS”), House Bill 2277. This policy would increase the amount of electricity that comes from clean, renewable energy sources like wind and solar power for utility companies supplying electricity to Pennsylvania customers.

As you may know, Pennsylvania’s cornerstone renewable energy law (referred to as the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard or AEPS) “flatlined” three years ago, meaning that utility companies in Pennsylvania are no longer required to increase the annual percentage of electricity they produce from energy sources, such as wind and solar power. 

HB 2277 would renew Pennsylvania’s AEPS and significantly increase the existing requirements for wind and solar energy under the state’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard to 35% by 2035. 

Pennsylvania’s flatlined AEPS law only requires a paltry 8% of electricity to come from renewable sources, so raising the requirement to 35%, as proposed in HB 2277, is a significant step in the right direction to ensure that the Commonwealth can tap into the rapidly growing renewable energy economy. This will make Pennsylvania more competitive with neighboring states, since Maryland and New Jersey have 50 percent renewable energy requirements in their respective states by 2030, New York requires 70 percent by 2030, and Washington D.C.’s law requires 100 percent renewable energy by 2032. 

Given that Pennsylvania ranks 50th out of 51 for the amount of new renewable energy brought online over the past decade, we are being left behind while other states take advantage of the growth in this economic sector. We need to rapidly move towards a clean, renewable energy powered future and increasing the amount of renewable energy in the state’s alternative energy portfolio standards is a clear path forward. 

Given this, PennEnvironment asks you to vote in favor of House Bill 2277.

Thank you in advance for your consideration and support, and please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with questions about this legislation or other PennEnvironment efforts.