Energizing the Economy

A Recent Study Shows that Increasing Alternative Energy Will Bolster Pennsylvania's Economy
— Feb 10, 2010

new study released Feb. 1 shows that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania could experience a financial windfall over the next 17 years as a result of increased clean energy development. The study, conducted by Black & Veatch, a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company, shows that the expanded Advanced Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) could create more than 125,000 new job-years of construction and ongoing operation jobs between now and 2026. A job-year is defined as 2,080 hours of employment over a single year. During that same 17-year period, the growing advanced energy industry is projected to add over $25 billion to the commonwealth's economy. These economic impacts are relative to building conventional fossil fuel resources to supply the same amount of energy over the 17-year period.

Black & Veatch studied the potential impacts of increasing the renewable portion of Pennsylvania's AEPS from the current target of 8 percent to 15 percent by 2026. The 15 percent standard includes a 3 percent requirement for solar energy.

Black & Veatch also studied the impact of an additional 3 percent requirement for energy from existing coal plants retrofitted with carbon capture and sequestration technology. This energy is not counted as part of the 15 percent renewable standard, but as a second tier of advanced energy technologies.

“Pennsylvania has good resources for wind, biomass and solar, and there are numerous coal plants that are good candidates for carbon capture and sequestration,” said Ryan Pletka, project manager for Black & Veatch. “These resources make up the bulk of the potential we modeled for this project.”

According to the study, direct impacts of the AEPS on consumer electricity prices would be small. The potential increase would only result in an additional electricity cost of less than 1 percent for customers across the state — equating to a difference of about 50 cents per month for the average residential customer. However, Black & Veatch researchers also note that the increased supply of electricity generated by alternative energy sources like wind and solar power that use no fuel, would likely place downward pressure on overall electricity prices, which is likely to result in savings for customers.

The study was commissioned by the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies in partnership with the Heinz Endowments and the William Penn Foundation.

“We engaged Black & Veatch because we wanted an in-depth study by industry experts on what the economic impact of the increased portfolio standard might look like,” said Mike Kane, executive director of the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies.

In 2004, Pennsylvania adopted the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, which legislated that by 2020, 8 percent of all energy generated within the state would come from sustainable energy sources. Now under consideration, PA House Bill 80 could amend the act and increase the renewable portion of the standard to as much as 15 percent by 2026.

The Black & Veatch study is available on the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies Web site at: www.cfalleghenies.org, or on the Black & Veatch Web site (select “News & Publications” then “Reports & Studies”) at www.bv.com.

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