Philadelphia, Community Energy sign solar power contract for city’s government buildings

Demonstrating Philadelphia’s commitment to renewable energy, Mayor Jim Kenney signed a bill Monday, entering the city into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with clean energy developer Community Energy, Inc. to buy solar power for government facilities in the area.

“This project not only helps Philadelphia demonstrate leadership on climate action, but it also makes good economic sense and helps to boost regional job growth in the renewable energy sector,” Kenney said.

The agreement approves the construction of Adams Solar LLC, a 70-megawatt solar farm located in Adams County, which will produce enough electricity to power 22 percent of Philadelphia’s government buildings by 2020. Under the fixed-rate PPA, Adams Solar will sell 100 percent of its power to the Philadelphia Energy Authority for the next 20 years. In its first year of operation, the solar farm is expected generate 156,000 megawatt hours of energy, ultimately eliminating 4 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the life of the project.

“The Philadelphia solar commitment demonstrates impressive and much-needed leadership on climate change in Pennsylvania,” Brent Alderfer, Community Energy CEO and co-founder, said. “As the costs of climate change go up, Philadelphia is showing the way for municipalities to secure reliable, long-term solar power to decarbonize and head off irreversible climate damage.”

In September 2017, Kenney announced Philadelphia’s first Municipal Energy Master Plan, which outlines a roadmap to reduce energy use and utilize clean energy supply in the city. Included in the master plan is a goal of generating or purchasing 100 percent of all electricity for Philadelphia’s built environment from renewable resources by 2030.

The most recent PPA for Adams Solar, which is scheduled to break ground in the fall of 2019, is an essential step in reaching that goal, according to Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, who introduced the bill earlier this year.

“To achieve this goal, we must analyze the need, investigate the options, make a strategic plan, and then implement it. This Power Purchase Agreement is part of that plan and the result of a thorough procurement process evaluated by the Office of Sustainability and Philadelphia Energy Authority,” Reynolds Brown, chair of the City Council’s Committee on the Environment, said.
“Moving forward in a tangible matter with this goal symbolizes how we grow towards a greener and more sustainable Philadelphia.”

In addition to the purchase of renewable energy, the project also includes an Economic Opportunity Plan (EOP), which will incorporate minority, women, and disabled person-owned businesses in the Adams Solar project.

According to Emily Schapira, executive director of the Philadelphia Energy Authority, the project’s EOP will also provide an opportunity to work with the city’s high school solar training program “to help make sure our students are prepared to take on jobs in the new clean energy economy.”

Subcontractor and workforce job fairs will be held in Philadelphia and Adams County.
The industry shift to renewable energy production, however, extends far beyond Philadelphia’s master plan. According to a report release by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association, more than 70 percent of registered voters support both net metering and renewable portfolio standards of at least 50 percent by 2030.

The report emphasized the need for more education on solar energy, showing that additional information and awareness on the subject led to more favorable opinions about solar energy use.
“Whether it’s support for pro-solar policies, a desire to invest in solar, or an interest in taking actions to advancing solar deployment, people’s pro-solar opinions became stronger with better information,” Andrew Baumann, senior vice president of Global Strategies Group, said.