Pennsylvanians got their first look at exactly how stimulus money for renewable energy will be spent on Monday, when the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority (PEDA) announced $20.7 million of investment in 25 projects. The grants are anticipated to generate and conserve enough energy to power more than 26,000 homes, reducing carbon emissions equivalent to removing more than 17,000 cars from roadways.
“A little help from us will get them over the hump and get them built,” says Pennsylvania deputy secretary for energy and technology deployment Dan Griffiths.
The investments will create 430 permanent green jobs, 1,068 construction jobs and retain 4,110 manufacturing jobs by stabilizing energy costs with on-site renewable energy systems. The funding includes $10 million in stimulus funds and another $10 million from the state. The public funding leverages another $120 million in private matching funds. Nearly 400 applications were received, seeking more than $400 million.
Among the investments is $900,000 for Conergy Projects, Inc. to develop a 1.5 megawatt solar photovoltaic generation facility in Philadelphia, the largest in an urban setting in the U.S. The largest project is in Blair County, where Card I Limited Partnership was awarded $1.15 million against nearly $39 million in matching funds to construct a biogas energy production facility in Martinsburg. The facility will generate close to 1 billion kWh of electricity during its lifetime and create 33 full-time and 200 temporary, full-time jobs.
PEDA, revived by Governor Ed Rendell in 2005, is one of 10 possible funding sources for energy-related projects administered by the state.
Source: Dan Griffiths, Department of Environmental Protection
Writer: Joe Petrucci