Rendell's ambitious energy effort (PA)

[jpak]

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20070603_Rendel...

It was just an office toy: a solar-powered windmill that turned in Dan Desmond's Harrisburg windowsill till it stopped one day this spring. But the reason it quit may help illustrate the future of energy in Pennsylvania - especially if Desmond's boss, Gov. Rendell, persuades the legislature to enact his ambitious Energy Independence Plan before it starts its summer recess.

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To Rendell, that's exactly the kind of win-win formula that can turn a small new charge on Pennsylvania electric bills - 45 cents a month for the average consumer - into $10 billion in energy savings for the state's residents and businesses, and meanwhile provide a big boost for the state's overall economy.

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Rendell says the small new "system benefits charge" - one-twentieth of a cent per kilowatt-hour, or about $5 a year for an average residential customer - would allow the state to establish an $850 million fund that would make Pennsylvania a leader in the effort to reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil.

Donna Cooper, Rendell's secretary of planning and policy, said the fund would be used to leverage about $3 billion in new investment in renewable-energy sources, such as solar electricity and "biodiesel," fuel produced from agricultural sources such as soybeans or restaurant grease.

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