This is a guest post from Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance, AEE’s state partner in Pennsylvania. For more information on AEE’s State Coalition, click here.
Pennsylvania is known for coal and natural gas, but increasingly the state is becoming a leader in energy efficiency. Our efficiency industry now accounts for over 62,000 local jobs. Act 129, our landmark energy efficiency law, has played a big role in the industry’s growth, delivering $6.4 billion in customer benefits in the law’s first seven years. Still, much of our energy efficiency resource remains untapped. Massachusetts has about half the population of Pennsylvania, but almost twice the energy efficiency jobs. Removing barriers to energy efficiency investments, such as payback time and access to capital, can go a long way to helping the Keystone State realize significantly more of its energy efficiency potential. That’s why the Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance (KEEA) applauded as Gov. Wolf signed Act 30, new legislation to enable Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) in Pennsylvania. The bill, which passed the House 163-28 after clearing the Senate 42-8 earlier this year, adds Pennsylvania to the 33 states and District of Columbia that offer C-PACE as a way for commercial property owners to finance energy upgrades that save them money.