StateImpact Pennsylvania

29/07/2024

Harley-Davidson’s electric motorcycle business, LiveWire, is getting an $89 million boost to support a five-year project to increase production of zero-emissions motorcycles.

The money is part of a $1.7 billion grant under the Inflation Reduction Act to support manufacturing of electric vehicles at 11 closed or at-risk-of-closing automobile factories across eight states.

In the grant application, Harley-Davidson said the money will be used for expanding and upgrading its 650,000-square foot facility in York County for more energy-efficient EV motorcycle manufacturing. The company is also investing the funds into waste reducing paint technologies.

Company and union representatives did not return calls for comment.

Eleven at-risk automobile factories across the U.S. receive federal money to manufacture electric vehicles.

28/07/2024

A new Pennsylvania law paves the way for the state to oversee the practice of storing carbon dioxide emissions deep underground.

Gas industry groups are applauding passage of the Carbon Capture and Sequestration Act, while environmental advocates are divided.

Trapping emissions rather than releasing them into the atmosphere is a proposed solution for cleaning up some industries that are hard to electrify, such as steel-making and cement production.

Trapping emissions rather than releasing them into the atmosphere is a proposed solution for cleaning up some industries.

27/07/2024

Electric vehicle ownership in Pennsylvania just got more expensive.

Under a new law, EV owners will have to pay an extra $200 fee when they register their vehicle in 2025. The fee jumps to $250 in 2026, then will be tied to inflation after that. Owners will have the option to pay in installments.

Owners of plug-in hybrid EVs will owe 25% of the fee for fully electric vehicles.

The fee passed the legislature with bipartisan support.

Lawmakers say it makes EV owners pay their fair share for road maintenance, since they are avoiding taxes at the gas pump.

EV owners will have to pay an extra $200 fee when they register their vehicle in 2025.

26/07/2024

Schools that want to install solar panels can soon apply for help under a new state program.

The law creating the Solar for Schools program directs the Department of Community and Economic Development to set up a grant program using federal climate money.

Once the agency opens the application process, schools can ask for grants to cover up to half the cost of installing solar panels.

Lawmakers also approved $25 million in state funds that could be used on top of the federally-funded grants.

Solar for Schools program directs the Department of Community and Economic Development to set up a grant program using federal climate money.

24/07/2024

Since June 1, the National Weather Service has issued 18 heat advisories in the state. That’s 13 more than the average for this time period over the last two decades, according to data collected by Iowa State University.

An advisory means that the combined heat and humidity is expected to feel like 100 degrees or higher for at least two days, and night-time air temperatures will not drop below 75 degrees.

Pennsylvania has had six excessive heat warnings since the beginning of June.

23/07/2024

An electricity transmission line in Franklin County that has faced opposition since 2018 got a green light from the county.

Franklin County commissioners, who had opposed the project, struck a $9 million deal to allow Transource to build the line.

According to the settlement, upon completion of the Independence Energy Connection project, the company will pay $5 million to the county to offset impacts of the project.

Transource can use the remaining $4 million for changes to the project path based on public feedback.

The project was selected in 2016 by PJM, the regional grid operator, to reduce energy congestion and meet demands in neighboring states.

PJM says electricity was “trapped” in Pennsylvania, producing artificially low prices in Pennsylvania and artificially high prices in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

Landowners and others have protested the project since 2018, saying the 29-mile line through the county, with five to seven towers per mile, will have a direct negative impact on land and property values, and will not benefit the community.

The project still needs approvals and it’s possible the transmission line will never be built.

22/07/2024

On hot days, it can feel hotter in some Pennsylvania cities, according to a new analysis by Climate Central, a non-profit science communications group.

That’s because of the urban heat-island index – additional heat absorbed and released by buildings, roads, and pavement. The study showed that Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Wilkes-Barre all felt at least 8 degrees hotter, with some regions of the cities feeling up to 13 degrees hotter.

The heat effect can be worse in neighborhoods that are low-income and have a higher population of people of color, the group says.

Climate Central says its estimates are more accurate than in the past. Previously, the group estimated the heat-island index using land-cover type and population density at the census tract level.

On hot days, it can feel hotter in some Pennsylvania cities, according to a new analysis by Climate Central, a non-profit science communications g […]

22/07/2024

A recent Supreme Court ruling could impact air quality in Pennsylvania.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s 2023 “Good Neighbor Plan” addresses cross-state air pollution from power plants and other facilities. The agency had required 23 states to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions that contribute to smog.

Ohio, Virginia, and Indiana, along with industry groups, challenged the rule. While that case is being heard in federal court, the challengers asked the Supreme Court to block the rule from taking effect, and in a 5-to-4 decision in Ohio v. EPA last month, it did.

The Clean Air Council (CAC), among others, filed documents supporting EPA’s rule at the Supreme Court. The Allegheny Front’s Kara Holsopple spoke with CAC Executive Director Alex Bomstein about the court’s decision.

https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2024/07/16/how-the-supreme-courts-good-neighbor-ruling-could-impact-air-quality-in-pa/

24/06/2024

PJM, which operates the electrical grid for the northeast region including Pennsylvania, says it can meet the increased demand for electricity during the heat wave that’s expected to continue through Sunday.

PJM says fossil-fuel plants are closing and renewables aren’t coming online quickly enough.

21/05/2024

More than one million dollars in federal grants could help reduce persistent flooding in Harrisburg.

Federal money is going toward projects to help fix an ‘overwhelmed’ sewer system.

17/05/2024

The Biden Administration is highlighting a glass manufacturer in Pennsylvania for taking steps to reduce planet-warming emissions.

Officials with the General Services Administration and Environmental Protection Agency toured the Vitro Architectural Glass plant near Carlisle to mark the one-year anniversary of a pilot program that created more climate-friendly standards for building materials.

As part of the pilot, GSA is spending more than $2 billion from the federal climate measure–the Inflation Reduction Act–on glass, asphalt, concrete, and steel with lower embodied carbon. That means the materials are responsible for less emissions over their life cycle than industry norms.

The Vitro plant in South Middletown Township, Cumberland County uses oxy-fuel technology to reduce its natural gas use by 20%. The method involves burning gas in a higher concentration of oxygen, instead of natural air, to increase efficiency. That cuts carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions such as nitrogen oxide when making glass. Glass is made by heating a mixture of mostly sand to very high temperatures.

Vitro, formerly PPG Glass, has been working to improve efficiency since before the pilot was announced last year. Vitro says all its glass products produce a carbon dioxide equivalent that is 13% lower than the National Glass Association’s industry standard.

GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan said using this glass for federal projects is important for influencing industry practices.

“If government can show that this is possible–because we have a lot of buying power–and say ‘This is what we’re looking for,’ then industry steps up and they have it available not just for government buyers but for everyone,” Carnahan said.

The Vitro Glass plant in Cumberland County uses oxy-fuel technology to reduce its natural gas use by 20%.

16/05/2024

Pennsylvania’s severe rainstorms are more extreme than they were decades ago.

A report from the nonprofit science communication group Climate Central says climate change is causing the heaviest storms in Pennsylvania and other northeastern states to drop 60% more rain than they did six decades ago.

That’s because a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, which can fuel heavy rain events and flash floods.

Climate Central determined the figure by looking at total precipitation totals on the heaviest 1% of days across the country, as found in the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s Fifth National Climate Assessment.

A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, which can fuel heavy rain events and flash floods.

14/05/2024

PPL Electric Utilities is still not done paying for billing errors from last year.

The company said a technical problem in its metering system meant it had to estimate bills starting in December 2022. It estimated more than 860,000 bills between December 2022 and May 2023.

By January last year, many PPL customers were outraged by abnormally high bills.

In a review of 387,000 bills from January 2023, PPL found 67% differed from the customers’ actual electricity use by 10% or more. More than 47,000 bills had a difference of more than 50%.

Tens of thousands more customers had incorrect bills or no bill at all.

The incident sparked an investigation by the Public Utility Commission. The PUC proposed a settlement in January that would have included a $1 million fine.

PPL estimated more than 860,000 bills between December 2022 and May 2023.

06/05/2024

Legislation passed by the Senate would let energy companies bypass state agencies when applying for a permit to build.

It’s the latest attempt by Republican state lawmakers to speed up permitting by allowing outside parties to review applications, rather than state agencies, such as the Department of Environmental Protection.

Critics say the move would violate federal and state laws.

Senate Bill 832 was initially written to create an independent energy office to provide nonpartisan analysis and help with planning for energy development.

But the most recent bill version would also create the Pennsylvania Opportunities With Energy Reliability (POWER) Authority, a governor-appointed board that could approve permits for energy development and electricity generation, without public hearings. The body could also waive regulations for projects.

The authority would hire a “qualified licensed professional” outside the government to review applications.

Small-scale energy projects, defined as those with a less than 25 megawatt capacity, could apply to the POWER Authority if the state agency the company first applied to has not made a decision within the time period provided for by statute, regulation or agency policy, or within 120 days, whichever comes first.

Companies hoping to build a large-scale energy project of greater than 25 mw capacity could apply directly to the authority for fast-track permitting.

Pennsylvania has a lot of energy. It’s the second-largest gas producer, behind Texas, and it’s the top electricity exporter in the country.

Bill Sponsor Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) called it a proactive move to maintain Pennsylvania as an energy leader.

“There is no question we can capitalize on our state energy riches but first we need to stop apologizing for what we have,” Yaw said.

Gov. Josh Shapiro has promised to speed up permitting times across government. He issued an executive order in January last year that required agencies to catalog all their permitting procedures. In November, he launched the PAyback initiative, which lets people and companies request a refund on permit applications that aren’t done in a timely manner.

SB 832 passed the GOP-controlled Senate on party lines and now goes to the Democratic-led House.

Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) objected to amendments added just before final passage.

It’s the latest attempt by Republican state lawmakers to speed up permitting by allowing outside parties to review applications.

02/05/2024

On the campus of a former DuPont facility in Newark, Delaware, a group of researchers are working to create what they say is key to solving the world’s climate crisis — an affordable way to make hydrogen using renewable energy.

“It’s not a question of technical feasibility. It is a question of figuring out what is the lowest cost to produce that hydrogen,” said Balsu Lakshmanan, chief technology officer for the start-up Versogen. “We are displacing bad hydrogen with good hydrogen.”

The world is full of what he referred to as “bad hydrogen.” Nearly all the hydrogen used today is made with natural gas, in a process known as “steam methane reformation,” or through coal using gasification. And while hydrogen burns clean when used in fuel cell cars, trucks and buses — emitting only water v***r — climate warming gasses like carbon dioxide are released during hydrogen production.

Ten million metric tons of hydrogen are produced in the U.S. every year. More than 1,600 miles of pipeline transports it — primarily in the Gulf Coast.

The bulk of the hydrogen is not used to power vehicles but as part of oil refining, including those in the Philadelphia region. It’s also used to help feed us all — it’s used to make ammonia, a key ingredient in fertilizer.

On the campus of a former DuPont facility in Newark, Delaware, a group of researchers are working to create what they say is key to solving the wo […]

29/04/2024

A pilot program in York graduated its second class of energy efficiency workers, who may help fill a growing need.

Pennsylvania’s energy efficiency workforce could grow from about 75,000 jobs now to 200,000, according to a study from the University of Massachusetts Amherst that looked at the possible impact of federal climate investments from the Inflation Reduction Act on job growth.

Meanwhile, many people in the trades are reaching retirement age, leaving a workforce gap.

Pennsylvania College of Technology, the nonprofit Energy Efficiency Alliance, and the immigrant rights group CASA teamed up to create Building Green Futures. It’s a six-week program that readies students to recognize and find solutions to efficiency issues through classroom and on-the-job experience.

Graduates leave prepared to do home energy audits, seal air leaks, and install insulation.

28/04/2024

Rachel McDevitt with StateImpact Pennsylvania and digital producer Jeremy Long traveled to Centralia, Washington, where the last coal-fired power plant in that state is scheduled to shut down in 2025. Here’s a look the plant, and people and places affected by the closing.

Rachel McDevitt with StateImpact Pennsylvania and digital producer Jeremy Long traveled to Centralia, Washington, where the last coal-fired power […]

27/04/2024

Joe Clark, who heads Lewis County Transit, thinks hydrogen could be the future of transit, especially here.

The agency got a $1.8 million grant from the fund to install a micro-sized hydrogen electrolyzer, which will use electricity to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.

“For longer range, in rural America or rural Washington, where we are today, we have to use hydrogen because the battery electric just won’t get us there,” he said.

Clark just accepted delivery of the first hydrogen-fueled buses in Washington, part of the state’s effort to develop a federal hydrogen hub.

Community leaders are hoping hydrogen can help replace some of the jobs lost from the coal industry.

26/04/2024

About a half an hour from Centralia, at Onalaska High School, Kevin Hoffman teaches career and technical education courses, like wood shop, metal work, and aquaculture.

Hoffman applied for and got two TransAlta grants totaling $65,000 to upgrade the school’s fish hatchery program to one that rivals commercial operations. That money was among $2 million that has gone to develop educational programs.

Grants totaling $65,000 were used to upgrade a high school’s fish hatchery program.

25/04/2024

Central Pennsylvania communities have some of the unhealthiest air in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The American Lung Association’s latest State of the Air report ranked the Harrisburg-York-Lebanon metro area as the second-most polluted in the region for year-round fine particles, behind Pittsburgh. Johnstown and Lancaster ranked third and fourth, respectively.

The region includes Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

Fine particle pollution is made up of microscopic bits of ash, metals, dust or chemicals that can come from construction sites, power plants, transportation, and farming.

The particles embed deep in the lungs and can cross over to the bloodstream, where they can irritate heart conditions and raise the risk of heart attacks or strokes.

“The lungs don’t care what the source of the air pollution is. What they’re interested in is, ‘am I getting healthy air to breathe?’” said Kevin Stewart, environmental health director for the American Lung Association.

The 2024 report covers air quality data from 2020 to 2022.

Harrisburg earned an F for year-round particle pollution and ranked 37th-worst in the country for that measure.

25/04/2024

Levi and Sarah Althauser opened the Juice Box Public House in 2021 because they wanted a new family-friendly social space. The couple was inspired by stories from their grandparents of dancing all night with friends and family of all ages at the rural grange halls.

They got an $80,000 grant in 2022 to help replace the roof and the failing heating system. Without it, they probably would have had to shut their doors.

The Juice Box got an $80,000 grant in 2022 to help replace the roof and the failing heating system.

24/04/2024

Edna Fund remembers what Centralia, Washington was like in the 1960s, before the coal mine and power plant opened.

She and a friend drove to the site a few miles from the city, where they were going to college.

It was all farmland. Owners were selling their land to make way for industry.

Years later, she would visit the site again as an elected official.

“And I remember looking out at the area, like, this was farming land. And now we’re having all this coal being mined, and there’s a train coming in and out,” Fund said. “Pretty amazing to see the transformation.”

The land ultimately became a nearly 10,000-acre open pit mine with a 1,340-megawatt power plant.

It became Lewis County’s highest-paying employer, she said, and “people drove from long ways to get here to work there.”

A half-century later, climate change brought focus on polluting power plants. Environmental groups and some state lawmakers started pushing to shut down the plant. Fund was on Centralia city council at the time.

The western Washington town has been cited as a model for how to successfully transition away from coal. StateImpact Pennsylvania spent several days there to explore how time and money has affected preparations for what lies ahead.

23/04/2024

Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry charged Shell Pipeline Friday with chronically underreporting spills of industrial waste during construction of a pipeline feeding the company’s Beaver County ethane cracker.

The charges were made based on testimony from whistleblowers who worked on the Falcon Pipeline during its construction from 2019 to 2020.

Several former pipeline employees told state investigators that the company was underreporting or failing to report spills of drilling mud so as to avoid costly shut-downs. One told investigators Shell had “a strategy” of underreporting spill amounts so as not to invite time-consuming inspections by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

In addition, Shell allegedly failed to install real-time data logging devices on its drilling equipment, in violation of its state permit.

Henry filed 13 misdemeanor charges against Shell Pipeline at a magistrate’s court in Washington County.

In a statement, Henry said Shell “chose to ignore” laws designed to protect the environment.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry charged Shell Pipeline Friday with chronically underreporting spills of industrial waste during const […]

22/04/2024

Advocates are pushing for limits on polluting industries that want to locate or expand in vulnerable communities in Pennsylvania.

The measure from Rep. Donna Bullock (D-Philadelphia) would require companies to estimate the total environmental impact of new or expanded plants on environmental justice areas. Those communities often have a high percentage of people living in poverty or that belong to a minority group.

House Bill 652 would let state regulators deny permits if a plant would create too much of a burden.

Bullock said polluting facilities keep ending up in the same places.

The bill would let state regulators deny permits if a plant would create too much of a burden on environmental justice communities.

19/04/2024

A package of bills in the General Assembly aims to help the state reduce climate-warming pollution while protecting workers.

The House Democrats’ Blue Green Caucus is hoping the 11 measures will get traction this session.

The efforts include giving more money to public transit, mandating prevailing wages for clean energy projects, and updating efficiency standards for appliances. Prevailing wage rates are set by the state Department of Labor and Industry based on workers’ job classification, where the work is done, collective bargaining agreements and other data.

Robert Bair, president of the Pennsylvania Building Trades Council, said labor and environmental groups can find common ground in these areas.

“There has to be compromise. There has to be a path forward. We do have to protect the climate. We have to protect jobs. And we have to put Pennsylvania first,” Bair said.

Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler (D-Philadelphia) said the lack of communication between environmental and labor groups has been a huge hurdle to passing legislation like this.

“That for me is some of the most exciting work we can do here in the capitol, is bring together groups of unlikely–unlikely partnerships and then fight as hard as we can to get stuff over the line,” Fiedler said.

Three bills from the package have already passed the House with bipartisan support.

11/04/2024

Centralia, Washington’s coal-fired power plant is closing by the end of 2025.

The shutdown came with a deal setting up the town for what's next.

In Pennsylvania, where a robust fossil-fuel economy intersects with the drive to cut carbon emissions that fuel climate change, could Centralia hold lessons for an energy transition?

StateImpact Pennsylvania traveled to Washington to find some of those answers.

Centralia, Washington’s coal-fired power plant is closing by the end of 2025. Pennsylvania’s robust fossil-fuel economy intersects with the drive to cut carbon emissions that fuel climate change. Could Centralia, Washington’s plan hold lessons for an energy transition? As part of a deal with t...

13/03/2024

Under Shapiro's proposal, the state would determine a total pollution limit and power plants would need to buy credits to release emissions.

Shapiro estimates the proposals would save ratepayers $250 million over five years and create 14,500 jobs.

04/03/2024

“Manufacturers are thinking, ‘How do you change a facility with millions of dollars of equipment, none of it set up as clean?’ So getting switched around is very tough — it’s changing history.” -- Evan Bates, business advisor with MANTEC

Cutting emissions means making fundamental business changes, and manufacturers are often wary, says a consultant who works with those businesses on topics including sustainability.

27/02/2024

Four people who live in Harrisburg's Allison Hill neighborhood have a ground-level view of the effects of climate change. They talked about what they're seeing, and what they hope can be done.

We met with four neighbors in Harrisburg’s Allison Hill to learn about climate effects.

23/02/2024

Workers for Mariner East pipeline builder Energy Transfer are back at the area in and around Marsh Creek State Park to contain a new leak of what appears to be bentonite clay, a material used in horizontal drilling as part of the underground pipe laying process. A resident reported seeing the whitish material in a tributary of Marsh Creek on Feb. 15, two years after the company completed construction of the 350-mile-long cross-state natural gas liquids pipelines, and three-and-a-half years after construction at the same site caused between 21,000 and 28,000 gallons of drilling mud to enter Marsh Creek Lake.

Energy Transfer paid more than $4 million dollars in penalties for the August 2020 incident. While the company cleaned it up from the lake and surrounding wetlands, some of the clay likely seeped below the surface into the soil or underground aquifer. Pipeline construction in that area of Chester County wreaked havoc throughout the project, causing sinkholes and polluting wetlands through “inadvertent returns” of drilling mud as the company bored through karst, or limestone, a porous and unstable rock.

A Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection employee wrote in an inspection report on Feb. 16 that they saw the material flowing out of a wetland at the site of a previous sinkhole.

“It is possible that the remaining bentonite in the soil column at this previous inadvertent return location has been pushed to the surface by the rising water table,” wrote the inspector. The substance is currently being tested.

Photos attached to the report show a small stream and wetland clogged with a muddy clay-like substance.

Mariner East pipeline builder Energy Transfer is back at the area near Marsh Creek State Park to clean up more drilling mud.