State rep to Pa. utilities: Buy more solar energy
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HARRISBURG -- Pennsylvania has more solar energy capacity than utilities are purchasing, and one state lawmaker wants to boost demand so that those alternative-energy companies stay in the state.
Rep. Chris Ross, R-Chester, has introduced a measure that would increase the percentage of solar energy that utility companies must buy during the next three years. At a Tuesday news conference, he said that would help stabilize a marketplace that has grown faster than expected.
When the next incremental increase in the solar requirement kicks in at the end of the month, state utilities will have to purchase about 18 megawatts of their supply from solar, according to the PA Solar Energy Industries Association. There already is 71 megawatts' worth of capacity installed in the commonwealth.
That oversupply has caused solar credits, which are sold to the utilities, to drop in value. As those credits become worth less, solar projects become more difficult to finance and companies are unable to continue expanding, Mr. Ross said.
"This is about saving these jobs that we've stimulated and created," he said. "We've been very successful, and we don't want to blow it."
Tim Quigley, director of the Uniontown-based Solar-Tec, said his company has seen demand grow from the credit program. He said the solar installations increase the property value of a home or business and also help the owner make money through selling the credits.
"We've really seen the interest take off," Mr. Quigley said.
Under current law, utilities must by 2021 purchase 0.5 percent of their total energy from solar sources. The proposed measure from Mr. Ross would increase the percentages required through 2015 and then go back to the current schedule for ramping up the solar portion through 2021.
First Published May 25, 2011 12:00 am
