Governor-Elect Shapiro appoints leaders of PA Solar Center and PASSIA to transition team
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 20, 2022
Contact: Gretchen Dlugolecki, Rapport Communications
Mobile: 401-301-0138
Email: gretchen@rapportcommunications.org
PRESS RELEASE
Governor-Elect Shapiro appoints leaders of PA Solar Center and PASSIA to transition team
Sharon Pillar and Ron Celentano will join Shapiro’s Environmental/Energy Advisory Committee
Statewide, PA – Governor-Elect Josh Shapiro recently appointed representatives from Pennsylvania’s burgeoning solar industry to the Environmental & Energy Advisory Committee of his transition team – Sharon Pillar, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Solar Center, and Ron Celentano, President of the Pennsylvania Solar & Storage Industries Association (PASSIA).
Pillar and Celentano will join other experts on the Energy Sub-Committee to help guide Shapiro’s administration in envisioning a bold, innovative energy strategy that will protect and create jobs, create a booming economy, and protect Pennsylvanians’ constitutional right to clean air and water.
“I am incredibly honored to have been entrusted with this important mission, which will ultimately impact the lives of all Pennsylvanians,” said Pillar. “I look forward to working with Governor-Elect Shapiro’s team to strategize how we can leverage more solar and other renewable forms of energy to create a brighter future for all of us. We know that getting to 5% solar will start to reduce wholesale energy prices for everyone, so the Governor’s campaign goal of 30% renewables by 2030 will help to lower electricity prices at a time when they are skyrocketing.”
“I greatly appreciate the opportunity to participate on the Energy Subcommittee of Governor-Elect Shapiro’s Transition Team, to help provide advice and guidance for growing solar and other renewables in Pennsylvania,” said Celentano. “Pennsylvania is far behind so many states in the U.S. with its renewable energy goals; PASSIA is eager to help get Pennsylvania get back on track with increasing clean energy jobs, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, lowering electricity costs for all, and exploring the many more benefits that come with growing solar and other renewables at the state level.”
More and more Pennsylvania businesses and organizations have been choosing to go solar, and not just for sustainability reasons. Investments in renewable energy sources like solar and wind are also extremely cost-effective, paying for themselves relatively quickly and then achieving impressive cost savings down the road. (Many organizations have even eliminated their energy bills altogether with the help of solar.) The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act has dramatically increased these cost savings by reinstating and expanding the solar tax credit to 30 percent until 2032 with additional tax credits for low-income and energy communities. Many states are leveraging these federal benefits with strong state goals to attract additional investment and solar deployment in their states.
Entities that go solar wisely recognize that an investment in renewable energy is also an investment in their local communities. Pennsylvania renewable energy projects have created almost 5,000 jobs spanning the entire supply chain since 2004, from technicians and engineers to salespeople, construction workers, and manufacturers. And according to the Finding Pennsylvania Solar Future Project, increasing the solar portion of the state’s electricity mix from the current 0.5 percent goal to 10 percent by 2030 would create upwards of 50,000 jobs and result in a net economic benefit of $1.6 billion annually. The current 0.5 percent solar goal flat-lined on May 31st of 2021.
Shapiro’s administration will officially take office on January 17th, 2022. Learn more about his transition team here.
About the PA Solar Center
The PA Solar Center is a 501c3 nonprofit organization with the mission to expand the benefits of solar to all Pennsylvanians to build more resilient communities. The Center seeks to educate, advocate, and transform, by offering savvy media communications and online resources for all solar stakeholders; evidence to decisionmakers and advocates about the benefits of robust solar policy; and technical assistance to non-profit organizations, businesses, and communities to help them go solar. The PA Solar Center also provides an online directory of qualified solar developers, a map of notable solar installations, a monthly solar webinar series, and listing of solar events happening across the state.
Learn more at www.pasolarcenter.org.
About Pennsylvania Solar & Storage Industries Association
Pennsylvania Solar & Storage Industries Association (“PASSIA”) is a Division of Mid-Atlantic Solar & Storage Industries Association (“MSSIA”), where MSSIA is a not-for-profit trade association made up of businesses and professionals working in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware involved in the development, manufacturing, design, construction and installation of solar photovoltaic (“PV”) and energy storage systems.
Learn more at https://mssia.org.
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