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File #: 121043    Version: 0 Name:
Type: Resolution Status: ADOPTED
File created: 12/13/2012 In control: CITY COUNCIL
On agenda: Final action: 12/13/2012
Title: Urging the United States Congress to renew the Production Tax Credit, which supports the growth of renewable energy sources and more than 3,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, before it expires on December 31, 2012.
Sponsors: Councilmember Kenney, Councilmember Green, Councilmember Goode, Councilmember Reynolds Brown, Councilmember O'Brien, Councilmember Greenlee, Councilmember Henon, Councilmember Bass, Council President Clarke, Councilmember Jones, Councilmember Blackwell, Councilmember Johnson, Councilmember O'Neill, Councilmember Oh, Councilmember Tasco, Councilmember Squilla, Councilmember Quiñones Sánchez
Attachments: 1. Signature12104300.pdf
Date Ver.Action ByActionResultTallyAction DetailsMeeting DetailsVideo
12/13/20120 CITY COUNCIL Introduced and Ordered Placed on This Week's Final Passage Calendar - Rules SuspendedPass  Action details Meeting details Not available
12/13/20120 CITY COUNCIL ADOPTED   Action details Meeting details Not available
Title
Urging the United States Congress to renew the Production Tax Credit, which supports the growth of renewable energy sources and more than 3,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, before it expires on December 31, 2012.
Body
WHEREAS, The Production Tax Credit supports the development of renewable energy sources, including wind power, by providing a 2.2 cent per kilowatt-hour benefit for the first ten years of a renewable energy facility's operation. The credits were created as part of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 and has received six short-term extensions. Its seventh extension is supported by President Obama and 28 state governors; and

WHEREAS, The wind industry supports about 75,000 jobs nationwide, and over 60 percent of wind-turbine and tower components are made domestically. Roughly half of the nation's wind jobs rely on the Production Tax Credit, including those in Pennsylvania. There are 22 wind energy manufacturing facilities throughout Pennsylvania, and there are construction projects lined up to triple the state's wind energy output. Currently, wind farms generate about 1,029 megawatts - enough power to light over 250,000 homes - and the wind industry has created jobs for over 3,000 Pennsylvanians; and

WHEREAS, In 2004, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard, requiring electricity distribution companies and suppliers to supply 18 percent of sales to retail customers from alternative energy sources by 2020. The American Wind Energy Association asserts that the state is "becoming a manufacturing powerhouse for the wind energy industry"; and

WHEREAS, Many of the skills Pennsylvania workers possess easily transfer to wind energy manufacturing, providing thousands of new jobs and spurring billions in investment. Additionally, wind power is sustainable, creates no emissions and uses virtually no water. The wind power installed in Pennsylvania will avoid over 1.75 million metric tons of annual carbon dioxide e...

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