Download Pennsylvania’s renewable electricity PDF
Renewable Mandate Status: Not on Track
- 2009 Estimated Qualified Renewable Generation: 2.4%[i]
- 2009 Renewable Mandate: 6.2%
- 2020 Renewable Mandate: 18%[ii]
Eligible Resources: two tiers
- Tier I: photovoltaic energy, solar-thermal energy, wind, low-impact hydro, geothermal, biomass, biologically-derived methane gas, coal-mine methane and fuel cells
- Tier II: waste coal, distributed generation systems, demand-side management, large-scale hydro, municipal solid waste, wood pulping and manufacturing byproducts, and integrated gasification combined cycle coal technology
Compliance Schedule:[iii]
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Renewable portfolio history: In 2004, Pennsylvania created the Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS), which, requires each electric distribution company (EDC) and electric generation supplier (EGS) to retail electric customers in Pennsylvania to supply 18% of its electricity using alternative-energy resources by 2020. [iv]
- Utilities must meet a portion of electricity demand with energy efficiency. House Bill 2200, passed in 2008, requires utilities to implement programs to reduce consumer electricity demand. By May 2013, consumption must have decreased by at least 3 percent from levels projected by the Commission for the June 2009–May 2010 period, and peak demand must have decreased by at least 4.5 percent [v]
- “PA grants compliance exemptions to EDCs that are still under rate freezes or in restructuring cost recovery periods. The exemptions also apply to EGSs that operate within the service territory of an exempted EDC. As of the beginning of 2008, only six EDCs had reached the end of their exemptions”[vi]
Credit Trading: Yes
Noncompliance penalty: $45 per megawatt-hour for shortfalls in Tier I and Tier II resources. Separate penalty for noncompliance with the solar requirements.[vii]
Electricity Price Ranking: 15th Highest[viii]
- 10.21 cents/KWh in Pennsylvania
- 7.67 cents/KWh in non-mandated states
[i] Energy Information Administration, Electricity Generation 2009, http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/generation_state_mon.xls.
[ii] Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. http://www.puc.state.pa.us/electric/electric_alt_energy.aspx.
[iii] Database of state Incentives for Renewables and Electricity, Pennsylvania. http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=PA06R&re=1&ee=1
[iv] Database of state Incentives for Renewables and Electricity, Pennsylvania. http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=PA06R&re=1&ee=1
[v] Pennsylvania House Bill 2200. (2008). http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/billinfo.cfm?syear=2007&sind=0&body=H&type=B&bn=2200.
[vi] Database of state Incentives for Renewables and Electricity, Pennsylvania, http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=PA06R&re=1&ee=1
[vii] H.B. 1203 (Penn. 2007), Act for the sale of electric energy generated from renewable and environmentally beneficial sources, http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr =2007&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=1203&pn=2343.
[viii] EIA, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.B., Average Retail Price of Electricity, June 2010, Released Sept. 15, 2010, http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_b.html
