Tell PA Legislators to Increase Renewable Energy Requirements Under Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard

From PennEnvironment (http://www.pennenvironment.org):

Sadly, Pennsylvania’s cornerstone renewable energy law flatlined earlier this summer, without garnering much attention or fanfare. That means utility companies in Pennsylvania are no longer required to increase the percentage of electricity they produce from clean wind and solar energy each year.

Call on your legislators to renew this crucial program today at https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=44912.

We know that if we’re going to tackle climate change, we have to produce more of Pennsylvania’s electricity from clean, renewable energy sources like wind and solar power and less from dirty fossil fuels. In 2004, the state legislature passed the “Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard” (AEPS) which set requirements for how much clean energy must be produced by utility companies supplying electricity in Pennsylvania.¹

Yet the law hasn’t kept up with the times. Pennsylvania’s requirement under the current AEPS is just 8 percent renewable energy (with just a 0.5 percent solar requirement) for 2021 and beyond. We must transition to renewable energy much more rapidly if we’re going to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.

So we’re calling on Pennsylvania’s elected officials to increase the requirements for renewable wind and solar energy under the state’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard to 18 percent by 2026 and to provide 5.5 percent through in-state solar energy projects. This new standard would put us on a trajectory to get to 30% renewable energy by 2030, and 100% by 2050.

It’s time to make Pennsylvania a renewable energy leader. Expanding the AEPS is a crucial step to make that a reality.

Pennsylvania’s law also hasn’t kept up with clean energy requirements in neighboring states: Maryland and New Jersey require 50 percent renewable energy by 2030, New York requires 70 percent by 2030, and Washington D.C.’s law requires 100 percent renewable energy by 2032.²

Studies show that moving to clean, renewable energy will be a triple-win for Pennsylvanians: it’s good for our planet, good for our pocketbooks and good for electricity reliability.

Let’s tap into the benefits of renewable energy. Call on your state legislators to expand Pennsylvania’s AEPS today.

1. “2004 Act 13,” Pennsylvania General Assembly, November 30, 2004.
2. Laura Shields, “State Renewable Portfolio Standards and Goals,” National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), April 7, 2021.