In Harrisburg, state House Republicans got a jump on Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell today by releasing a plan of their own to conserve energy.
The House Republican Energy Task Force said it opposes Mr. Rendell's call for a modest surcharge on residential and business electrical bills -- about $5.40 a year for homes, Mr. Rendell says -- in order to float an $850 million issue to pay for energy-saving appliances.
Rep. Stan Saylor, R-York, said he thinks the surcharge, which is based on adding a small percentage of a person's electric bill, would end up being more in the range of $20 to $100 a year, instead of the governor's low estimate. An $850 million bond will end up cost state taxpayers about $1.4 billion to pay off over 20 years, which Mr. Saylor called a bad idea.
"We don't need to place a new tax on people when their electric bills are rising,'' said Rep. Mike Turzai, R-Bradford Woods.
While the Senate opened its special session on energy today, the full House won't be back until next Monday, which is when the governor will make his pitch for alternate fuels in Pennsylvania.
The Republican plan includes such things as:
--Encouraging people to buy new, energy-efficient appliances by exempting such purchases from the state sales tax.
--Encouraging people to make their homes more energy-efficient by installing solar panels and new doors and insulation, with such purchases also exempt from sales tax.
--Providing more incentives to home owners to improve their homes energy-wise by granting a state income tax deduction of up to $1,500 a year.
--Giving builders tax credits for construction of "green,'' energy efficient homes and office buildings.
--Increasing funds in the state's weatherization program so more families can add insulation or take other energy-improvement measures.
The GOP plan includes other tax credit ideas, such as helping companies that produce alternative fuels, such as corn-based or wood chip-based ethanol, for vehicles. Mr. Rendell is also supporting such measures.
The GOP plan also calls more use of fuels native to Pennsylvania, such as clean coal technology and use of natural gas, including drilling on state owned lands where it can be done in an environmentally safe manner.
The Republicans also criticized Mr. Rendell's call for homeowners to add "smart meters,'' at a cost of up to $250 each, to their homes. Republicans said such meters, which encourage use of electricity at off-peak hours, such as the middle of the night, would cost many people more than they would save them on electricity costs.
First Published: September 17, 2007, 6:30 p.m.
