Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling

The Energy Conservation Council of Pennsylvania believes that proper regulation of Marcellus Shale gas drilling and production can allow the industry and our local economies to prosper without compromising our environment. 

Unfortunately, current regulation does not do near enough to protect our water, air, infrastructure, history and beauty.  To learn more about pending legislation in Pennsylvania, Read It Here.

Climate Bill Unveiled 5/12/10

Kerry/Leiberman sponsored Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S.1733)

is finally unveiled after much amending, including some last minute changes in the wake of the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  The bill’s overall goal is to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 17 percent (compared with 2005 levels) by 2020, and by 83 percent by 2050.   These are the same goals in the American Clean Energy and Security Act passed by the House last year.

Read It Here

 

HB 2200 passes on 2/5/09

Smart Meters for all Pennsylvanians!
You will soon have the ability to monitor and control your own energy use in a real way, with real data to assist you. Along with PennFuture, Piedmont Environmental Council and other environmental advocacy groups, ECC participated in an informational campaign which resulted in helping to obtain the passage of House Bill 2200. Our members understand the importance of legislation to encourage conservation efforts. This bill helps Pennsylvanians deal with the upcoming expiration of rate caps and potential increases of 50% in their electric bills. HB 2200 mandates that electric companies supply consumers with Smart Meters that help to conserve energy and reduce demand during peak periods by supplying real-time data to the users. The bill also mandates a decrease in projected peak energy usage by 2013. To learn more go to: http://www.pennfuture.org/UserFiles/HB2200FactSheet.pdf

 

State Senate Bill 1 – Funding for Clean Energy
In the budget battle, one of the two bills concerning energy was passed by the General Assembly. SS HB 1, known as the Clean Energy Funding bill, was approved as part of the negotiations to approve a budget. This bill allocates $650 million for funding clean energy projects in Pennsylvania, including $100 million to help homeowners and small businesses purchase and install solar photovoltaic systems. Another $80 million will be available through grants and loans for solar energy development projects. The reminder of the funding goes to deployment and manufacturing of other clean energy technologies, energy efficient heating and cooling systems, and support of early stage activities and research in clean energy.

 

The National Interest Electric Transmission (NIETC) Corridor
Created by Section 1221 of the Federal Energy Policy Act of 2005, the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) designated more than 116,000 square miles through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia in October 2007. The corridor connects electrical generation to areas of greater electrical demand and ties into the existing national power grid.

In essence, the creation of such a corridor gives power companies blanket approval to build new high-voltage interstate transmission lines within the corridor, empowers the use of federal eminent domain to public utilities (through FERC) and, potentially, can strip the involved states of the right to control the siting and regulating of the construction of transmission lines and sub-stations. In addition, other means of solving the electrical demand and congestion problems through conservation, distributed generation, new technologies and demand response are largely ignored. Also, no review by the Department of Environmental Protection and other governmental agencies was performed prior to the designation of these corridors.

On January 10, 2008, eleven national environmental and policy organizations filed suit against the Department of Energy in the U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. On the same day, The Center for Biological Diversity is filing a similar lawsuit in the Central District of California against the Southwest NEITC. Both lawsuits are working their way through the legal system.

 

Reid Legislation

Draft Legislation Lets Utilities “Greenwash” Business as Usual
An energy bill sponsored by Senator Harry Reid of Nevada directs the President to quickly designate areas as "National Renewable Energy Zones." Each zone must be able to generate at least 1 gigawatt of renewable electricity at least 30% of the year, and a significant portion of this generation must come from rural areas or federal land. This sounds positive on the surface, but here's the problem as we see it:

  • Any lines identified within these new federal zones are presumed 'needed'. Regardless of demand, alternatives, impact, etc.
  • Energy efficiency, demand side management and distributed generation take the backseat (again). Any bill that increases access to federal eminent domain for transmission siting should, at a minimum, establish a process to exhaust alternatives.
  • These “green” transmission lines would move coal power throughout the country, open up new markets for coal, and substitute coal for cleaner forms of generation, like natural gas. Under current pricing, which this bill would not change, coal generated electricity is dispatched before the next more expensive sources of generation.
  • Only on-shore renewables in rural areas are counted in the analysis. This leaves out off-shore wind and renewables in urban areas (rooftop solar, skyscraper wind).
  • This legislation does not undo the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) process, it adds to it.

It is also important to know that there is other proposed legislation in the House and Senate, including a Senate Bill by Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, head of The Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
These draft bills all seem to suffer from the same problems (as currently drafted):

  • They presume a “need”, and provide little or no opportunity for anyone to oppose a line.
  • They are a transmission-only solution, generally ignoring generation, demand side management or conservation.
  • They are not tied to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or pollution, or to an increase in clean renewable generation.

These are just some of our concerns.