Letter to the editor: Pa. can finally catch up on solar

In response to the op-ed by Mandy Steele, Bill McKibben and Joe Morinville, “AI, crypto and Pa.’s war on the little guy” (Sept. 20, TribLive), referring to the inaugural “Sun Day” in Pittsburgh, I attended that event along with dozens of Pittsburghers. Steele (a Democrat representing Fox Chapel) spoke of the importance of HR 502 — “Reset” — a bill calling for the establishment of a statewide energy siting board for energy plants generating over 25 megawatts.

Pennsylvania is one of the few states without such a central siting authority, and the bill will help solar greatly. The Trib has also published commentary against this bill, due to its inclusion of natural gas siting. But Pennsylvania is currently 49th in renewable energy growth, and red tape around siting is a huge solar barrier.

Because solar today is less expensive than natural gas installs, and because natural gas will have other water and air permits to contend with, this bill is no gift to natural gas. And if the board is created with bipartisan support — which will only happen if natural gas siting is included — solar will finally have a place at the table.

HB 504, “Community Energy,” which already passed in the House, will (if it passes the Senate) allow local developers to build small solar farms and access the grid to sell their power to subscribing community members at a reduced rate. Between utility grade and community solar, we can finally catch up with the rest of the states on solar energy.

Jen Bannan

Bloomfield