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Pennsylvania House of Representatives
10/10/2024 04:15 PM
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?SPick=20230&chamber=H&cosponId=40532
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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

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House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: April 19, 2023 02:42 PM
From: Representative Elizabeth Fiedler
To: All House members
Subject: Solar for Pennsylvania Schools
 
Energy for powering schools is one of the highest costs for school districts in Pennsylvania. For a short time, a significant funding opportunity will be available for solar energy projects through the federal Inflation Reduction Act. Now is the time to incentivize solar adoption and bring back federal dollars to Pennsylvania through a targeted investment from the state government. On-site solar can reduce energy costs and save Pennsylvania school districts hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. 

To encourage solar adoption at schools, I am proposing legislation to create a Pennsylvania Solar for Schools Grant Program. The program will issue grants to school districts, intermediate units, career and technical schools, and community colleges to fund solar energy projects. Grants will cover the costs of the purchase and installation of equipment, permit fees, energy storage, utility interconnection, and any other costs approved by the Department of Community and Economic Development, which will administer the program. DCED will also provide technical assistance to schools and help them access additional funding opportunities through the federal Inflation Reduction Act.

Solar-generated electricity is already the cheapest electricity in history, and in states that have supported solar projects, schools districts are already benefiting. With the savings, districts in PA could reduce the tax burden and schools could invest in more teachers, support staff, and educational programming. In addition to all those benefits, solar school projects reduce carbon emissions and create family-sustaining jobs.

Please join me in co-sponsoring this legislation to benefit our environment, create good jobs, and reduce costs for Pennsylvania taxpayers.

Note: This is an update to the memo for HB137, which was circulated back in December. This memo reflects the bill as it is, which incorporated considerable stakeholder feedback before introduction in March. If you signed on before, please sign on again.

Sponsors of HB137: D. WILLIAMS, PISCIOTTANO, O'MARA, KRAJEWSKI, T. DAVIS, SCHLOSSBERG, OTTEN, KAUFER, NEILSON, SMITH-WADE-EL, HILL-EVANS, BOROWSKI, STEELE, SANCHEZ, HOHENSTEIN, MADDEN, CIRESI, FREEMAN, KIM, N. NELSON, WAXMAN, PROBST, GUENST, KAZEEM, BRENNAN, MERSKI, KINSEY, HOWARD, TAKAC AND VITALI
 



Introduced as HB1032


Memo Updated: April 19, 2023 02:43 PM