FYI - perhaps some of you have seen this. Perhaps not.

Jim Vancura
(530) 397-7463
(530) 397-3307 fax



-----Original Message-----
From: David Saltzman [mailto:saltzmandavid@...]
Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2007 10:57 PM
To: biofuels4oregon@...
Subject: [biofuels4oregon] Another State runs past Oregon on the green front



I thought I would forward this press release from the State of Pennsylvania.

If of all the places Pennsylvania can invest Billions on green initiatives
why can't Oregon?

Regards,

David Saltzman



February 2007
Browse PAPower Home Back Printable Version Text-Only Full-Screen eMail

Previous Next

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Feb. 1, 2007


GOVERNOR RENDELL UNVEILS ENERGY INDEPENDENCE STRATEGY TO SAVE CONSUMERS $10
BILLION OVER 10 YEARS, REDUCE RELIANCE ON FOREIGN FUELS

HARRISBURG — Citing the urgent need to cut energy costs, move toward energy
independence and stimulate the economy, Governor Rendell today released his
Energy Independence Strategy. The plan will push Pennsylvania into the top
tier of states taking steps to cut consumer energy costs, and significantly
expand the alternative fuel, clean energy and conservation sectors.

“This plan will cut Pennsylvanians’ energy bills by $10 billion over the
next 10 years,” said Governor Rendell. “It will give us the ability to
produce enough homegrown fuel to replace every gallon Pennsylvania currently

imports from the Persian Gulf.

“With smart policies and aggressive leadership, we have attracted
hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars of new investment and created thousands of
new jobs, making us a leader in the clean energy sector. The new policies
I am proposing will grow our competitive edge in clean energy even further
and move us dramatically closer to energy independence.”

The enactment of new laws, regulatory policies and the creation of the $850
million Energy Independence Fund will enable Pennsylvania to achieve three
key goals:

* Save consumers $10 billion in energy costs over the next 10 years;
* Reduce Pennsylvania’s reliance on foreign fuels and increase
Pennsylvania’s clean energy production capacity; and
* Expand Pennsylvania’s energy production and energy technology sectors
to create more jobs.

Cut Consumer Utility Bills

The first priority for this new energy initiative is to cut energy costs for

Pennsylvania consumers. Electric generation rates can swing wildly during
the course of the day and at different times of year. A recent study by
PJM, the independent electricity grid operator that covers Pennsylvania,
showed that cutting power consumption by just 3-5 percent during peak rate
periods saves consumers across the state up to $230 million annually.

“At times of high energy use, such as the hottest days of the summer and
coldest days of the winter, energy costs can be five- to seven-times higher
than during times of moderate use,” said Governor Rendell. “Today we do not

have the tools to cut our energy bills by shifting energy use to times when
costs are lower. I want to help consumers save money through smart metering
and time-of-day rate structures.”

The Governor’s initiative enables consumers to be smart about energy use by
providing new tools to empower consumers and $244 million in new funding to
help them install state-of-the-art energy technology.

Smart Metering: The Energy Independence Strategy would give consumers
the right to get smart meters installed in their home to give them a new
tool to reduce energy spending. Utilities would be required to prove they
have aggressively pursued this strategy before getting approval to build new

generating plants.

Increase Household Energy Efficiency and Lower Bills: Rebates would be
provided for customers turning in old, inefficient air conditioners and
refrigerators—two of the biggest energy-using appliances in the home—for new

models that use at least 15 percent less energy. The creation of a
“Pennsylvania Sunshine” program will help residents pay for up to 50 percent

of the cost of installing solar panels on their home or small business. At
current electricity rates, the average household could save about $600 a
year with a 5 kW system, or solar panels that generate about two-thirds of
the electricity consumed in the home.

Make Pennsylvania Businesses More Competitive: To stay in business in
our state, industry needs affordable electricity and rates that remain
relatively stable. Soaring or dramatically fluctuating electricity costs
make it difficult to manage and grow a business. That is the situation
manufacturers in Pennsylvania face as rate caps end and they are left to
deal with rapidly changing, “spot market,” electricity prices.

The Energy Independence Strategy addresses this problem for Pennsylvania

by enabling large energy consumers to enter into longer-term contracts with
stable, cheaper prices with their electricity provider, or through
“microgrids” to generate their own power. Second, electricity providers
would have to demonstrate they sought to keep prices down by buying a
portfolio of electricity resources at wholesale through long and short
contracts, instead of just spot market deals.

Power generators and distributors also are required to invest in
conservation first—initiatives that help customers cut energy
consumption—rather than in costlier options like building new generation or
buying power at peaking rates.

“Investing in conservation is critically important and the alternative
is unacceptable,” said Governor Rendell. “Without this initiative,
Pennsylvanians will need to build the equivalent of five large nuclear or
coal-fired power plants at a cost of over $10 billion to meet our growing
demand for electricity over the next 15 years.”

Reducing Reliance on Foreign Sources of Fuel

“Every year, Pennsylvanians send some $30 billion out of our state just to
buy gas and liquid fuels,” the Governor said. “We need to keep those
dollars at home and put our own people to work building our state’s energy
independent future.

“I have made a priority of investing in farm land and open space
preservation, and I am proud to say Pennsylvania now has the biggest program

in the country. But even with this effort, we still lose three acres of
farmland for every acre we save. If we give our farmers a chance to grow
our energy, we can turn that around and help our farming families while we
bolster our energy security.”

The commonwealth is already a leader in the production of renewable fuels.
One of the largest ethanol plants in the east will be built in the state,
and approximately 340 million additional gallons of ethanol production are
planned. Similarly, companies in Pennsylvania are expected to produce 60
million gallons of biodiesel by the end of 2007, and other new plants being
built are expected to produce an additional 170 million gallons within the
next two years. To put that into perspective, current national production
of biodiesel amounts to 225 million gallons, putting Pennsylvania's total
production near the top of all states.

Enact PennSecurity Fuels Standards: To guarantee that the shift to
cleaner alternative fuels occurs, and to bring economic stability to the
alternative fuels sector in PA, the Energy Independence Strategy will codify

the “PennSecurity Fuels Initiative” by requiring that we grow and use one
billion gallons of clean and renewable fuels. One billion gallons of
biofuel represents about 12.5 percent of all fuel consumption in the state,
and by 2017, would equal approximately the amount of fuel Pennsylvanians buy

from the Persian Gulf. Instead of spending $30 billion to pay for foreign
sources of fuel, more of these funds will be spent purchasing fuel from
Pennsylvania’s companies and farmers.

Specifically, the Governor’s initiative would mean that every gallon of
gasoline sold in Pennsylvania would include 10 percent ethanol, and every
gallon of diesel would include an increasing amount (up to 20 percent) of
soy or other renewable oil.

Expand Pennsylvania’s Energy Production Companies/Jobs

Governor Rendell has successfully attracted some of the world’s leading
advanced energy companies to Pennsylvania. Clean energy is among the
fastest growing investment sectors in the US and global economy. In the
last five years alone, investors have pumped $24 billion into clean energy
projects—a two-fold increase over previous investment levels.

“I am determined to further grow the Pennsylvania economy by attracting
energy companies to the state, creating jobs, and by making the commonwealth

the ‘destination location’ for clean energy investors,” said Governor
Rendell.

“Pennsylvania’s current energy investment programs have created over 2,500
jobs in the commonwealth, but since funding dollars are limited, the state
is only able to support 10 percent of requests for energy dollars—losing out

on at least $100 million in potential investments every year.”

To ensure that Pennsylvania’s economy and our jobs are benefiting from the
national growth in this sector, the Energy Independence Fund will:

* Accelerate the role that Pennsylvania companies play in the production

of clean energy components and systems: By making over $100 million
available in the form of venture capital, loans and grants so Pennsylvania
firms can attract private sector investors and grow their companies. These
funds may also assist in attracting cutting edge energy firms to the
commonwealth. All state funds will be matched at least dollar-for-dollar by

private sector capital.
* Initiate Clean Energy Economic Development Projects: New state
resources will target up to $500 million in state funds dedicated for
infrastructure improvements, construction, early project development costs
and equipment purchases undertaken to attract private investment in
energy-related economic development projects, including solar manufacturing;

advanced coal technologies; biofuels; and energy conservation, efficiency,
and energy demand management projects.
* Keep Energy Jobs Close To Home. The plan also makes improvements to
the historic Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard already on the books in
Pennsylvania. It makes clear that power companies can enter into long-term
contracts with the developers of wind farms and solar power arrays so that
those new and clean sources of energy can get financed and built. And this
strategy also makes clear that those projects have to get built in a place
that directly supports the grid that serves Pennsylvanians; renewable
projects built in other parts of the country or even Canada would not be
used to meet our requirements:

Climate Change

“I think everyone now understands that you cannot deal with energy policy
without addressing global warming,” said Governor Rendell. “It is the
largest environmental problem we face and Pennsylvania needs to do something

about it.

“The efforts I am announcing today to save energy and produce more clean
energy are a good first step, but they are only a first step. In the next
90 days I will present a comprehensive strategy to make Pennsylvania a
leader in addressing climate change.”

The Energy Independence Fund

The Energy Independence Fund will be used to support the following clean
energy activities:

* $244 million – Household appliance rebates and PA Sunshine Grants
* $106 million - Venture capital, grants and loans for expansion of
energy companies
* $500 million - Clean energy projects and development or equipment
costs for specific energy economic development projects

The Energy Independence Fund will be capitalized by a systems benefits
charge on electric power consumers. Charges of this kind are already in
place in 15 states and the District of Columbia. At the rate proposed,
Pennsylvania’s charge would be lower than all but two of these
jurisdictions.

The systems benefits charge is proposed at $0.0005 per kWh of electricity
used (five-hundredths-of-a-cent or .5 mills). This charge would cost the
average residential customer 45 cents per month, the average commercial
customer about $3.00 per month and the average industrial customer $74 per
month. For large industrial customers, the fee would be capped at a maximum

of $10,000 per year.

By contrast, the Energy Independence Strategy as a whole is expected to save

consumers nearly 15 times more than the cost of this fee. The average
residential customer is expected to save $73 per year, the average
commercial customer $425 per year, and the average industrial customer
$10,500 per year.



Browse PAPower Home Back Printable Version Text-Only Full-Screen eMail

Previous Next

_________________________________________________________________
Want a degree but can't afford to quit? Top school degrees online - in as
fast as 1 year
http://forms.nextag.com/goto.jsp?url=/serv/main/buyer/education.jsp?doSearch
=n&tm=y&search=education_text_links_88_h288c&s=4079&p=5116

********************************************************
To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to:
biofuels4oregon-unsubscribe@...

To CHANGE your subscription options, view list
information and archives, visit this list's Web page:
http://lists.onenw.org/lists/info/biofuels4oregon



--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.411 / Virus Database: 268.17.39/687 - Release Date: 2/14/2007

--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.411 / Virus Database: 268.17.39/687 - Release Date: 2/14/2007