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Pennsylvania Wants Energy Manufacturing Base
READING, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is working to build on the state's leadership in the development and deployment of new technologies by inviting letters of interest from advanced energy companies that want to take advantage of the opportunities Pennsylvania has to offer by seeking assistance with project financing or business siting, Kathleen A. McGinty, secretary, told the Manufacturers Association here yesterday.The Keystone State, she noted, is home to one of the nation's most progressive energy portfolio standards and boasts close to $1 billion in tax-exempt bonding authority and other significant financial incentives to make energy manufacturing a cornerstone of the commonwealth's economic future and ensure that more electricity generation comes from environmentally beneficial resources. State leaders are promoting the development of a new manufacturing sector that focuses on advanced and renewable energy systems, energy efficiency and conservation, and clean advanced energy businesses, and encouraging companies that are located elsewhere to consider establishing manufacturing, sales, marketing and distribution centers in Pennsylvania, McGinty said, adding that proposals for manufacturing relocations or expansions, or proposals related to specific energy project development opportunities are of particular interest.State officials also are interested in establishing long-term manufacturing operations within the commonwealth and providing low-cost, reliable energy to manufacturers and industrial customers from energy resources indigenous to Pennsylvania, McGinty said.Pennsylvania has adopted a number of progressive policy and financial tools designed to promote advanced energy projects in the state, including an Advanced Energy Portfolio Standard that required 18% of the electricity sold at retail in Pennsylvania to come from advanced sources, including eight percent from renewables, with a substantial solar requirement, the secretary added. Opportunities exist for low-cost, long-term partnerships with existing manufacturers and industrial operations. Letters of interest must be received by April 1, McGinty said. Department officials will work with the Governor's Action Team, Department of Community and Economic Development and Department of Agriculture to identify project funding from various commonwealth sources or identify project partners for promising proposals. The letter must have a two-page executive summary that includes a project description, principals, goals and objectives of the project, financial requirements if any, expected project benefits (including job statistics, economic development benefits, environmental improvements, etc.), a general overview of the company, including its history, present situation and future goals, and past sales and market development data, if available. Responses should be mailed to the Office of Energy and Technology Development, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, 400 Market St., P.O. Box 8772, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8772. "