Last week, Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell announced that, thanks to $11 million in ARRA funds, the state will soon have nine new large-scale CHP facilities that will generate enough power to supply over 180,000 homes per year. The funding from the ARRA will pass through Pennsylvania’s Green Energy Works! Grant program, which was created to manage the over-$100 million in stimulus money that Pennsylvania will receive via the ARRA. The state’s Green Energy Works! program offers “one-time grants for the deployment of shovel-ready green energy projects, including wind, solar, biogas and combined heat and power [CHP] projects” in order to “stimulate the economy and create jobs while meeting the following goals:
* Increase energy efficiency to reduce energy costs and consumption for consumers, businesses, and government
* Reduce reliance on imported energy
* Improve the reliability of electricity and fuel supply and delivery of energy services
* Reduce the impacts of energy production and use on the environment
In addition to the $11 million set aside for CHP projects, Green Energy Works! Grants have been allocated as follows:
* Up to $5 Million for Biogas Projects
* Up to $7 Million for Solar Projects
* Up to $20 Million for Wind Projects
It is projected that the nine CHP projects will generate a combined total of 1.8 million MWh of electricity during their lifetime. Additionally, the hope is that, by putting the power generation onsite, local power distribution networks will experience increased reliability and efficiency.
So what do you think? Does Pennsylvania’s fund allocation make sense? And can we infer from the emphasis on CHP that most of the wind, solar, and biogas projects that will be funded will include onsite power options?