John Quigley, government relations manager, before the House Environmental resources and Energy Committee re: HB 2035, December 17, 2003

PennFuture is a statewide public interest membership organization working to enhance Pennsylvania?s environment and economy, with offices in Harrisburg , Philadelphia and Pittsburgh . We would like to commend the Committee as well as Representative McIlhinney and the other sponsors of H. B. 2035, for considering this important and needed legislation.

 

The enactment of the energy efficiency standards of H. B. 2035 would move Pennsylvania toward a cleaner, healthier, and secure future. We again urge your favorable consideration of H. B. 2035, and thank the Committee for the opportunity to provide comment.  

The cleanest, least expensive, and most reliable watt of electric power in Pennsylvania is the one that is never used. The enactment of the energy efficiency standards of H. B. 2035 would be an important step toward mitigating the economic, environmental, and public health ills that plague the Commonwealth, and would be an enlightened step toward a cleaner, healthier, and secure future. We urge your favorable consideration of this important measure.

 

We believe that the Energy Efficiency Standards Act will serve to improve power reliability and mitigate electricity price spikes, save consumers money on their electricity bills, reduce public health problems caused by air pollution, and curb greenhouse gas emissions. By reducing Pennsylvania?s energy consumption, it will also represent an important step towards improving our nation?s energy security.

 

The need for our nation to use energy as efficiently as possible has never been greater.

 

As the nation strives to improve our energy security, increased support for improved efficiency must be part of a balanced policy for reducing our dependence on volatile fossil fuel markets and vulnerable electricity supply systems. Improved efficiency is an inherently secure way to meet the energy needs of a growing economy and it is unaffected by supply or price disruptions. Energy efficiency standards such as those proposed by H. B. 2035 will clearly help avoid the need for new central station power plants and the associated transmission system infrastructure, thereby making a contribution to improving our energy security.

 

We submit that well-designed standards such as those proposed by H.B. 2035 will pay for themselves several times over during the lifetime the appliances regulated, and will enable consumers to save money on their electricity bills. In addition, to the extent that these standards will help reduce energy usage in peak hours, downward pressure will be placed on the price of electricity during these periods, benefiting energy consumers.

 

Policies such as those contained in H. B. 2035 that spur new investments in energy efficiency could lower natural gas prices immediately and help consumers save money, according to a study just released by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). ACEEE found that reduced energy consumption from using energy-efficient appliances ? along with increased use of renewable energy resources - would reduce the demand for natural gas and force prices down, saving consumers $103 billion over the 2004-2008 period. Natural gas bills would fall by $75 billion - about $96 per year for the average home's gas bill. Additional savings of $28 billion would occur from lower electricity bills.

 

According to ACCE, updating state (as well as federal) appliance efficiency standards is critical to achieving these savings.

 

The generation of electricity in Pennsylvania and elsewhere now causes substantial pollution that harms public health, the environment, and the economy. For example, Pennsylvania power plants emit more than 7,900 pounds of toxic mercury pollution into our air each year ?- the third highest in the nation. Mercury from power plants contaminates our waterways and the fish that live there. People who eat contaminated fish store it in their bodies. Children, babies and developing fetuses are highly sensitive to mercury contamination, which can be passed to children from mothers' bodies, causing birth defects and serious neurological and developmental damage, including subtle losses of sensory or cognitive abilities, and delays in developmental milestones such as walking and talking.

 

Three years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention performed household interviews, physical examinations and blood mercury assessments on 705 children and 1709 women. They found that one in 12 of the women of childbearing age who were tested were above the EPA's safe reference dose for mercury, placing them at risk of adverse health effects. Nationally, 4.7 million women of child-bearing age have elevated levels of mercury. Approximately 322,000 newborns are at risk of neurological effects from being exposed in utero to mercury. In Pennsylvania waterways, mercury contamination of fish is so pervasive that the Fish and Boat Commission has issued a fish consumption advisory which recommends limiting eating fish caught anywhere in the state.

 

The state's power plants are also the second highest emitters of sulfur dioxide in the nation. Sulfur dioxide is the leading cause of acid rain, and more than 6,000 miles of Pennsylvania streams have become too acidic to support acid-sensitive aquatic life such as trout. Acid rain is also degrading the health of our forests by killing trees and hindering forest regeneration. The $4 billion hunting and fishing industry in Pennsylvania is damaged by mercury pollution and habitat destruction that results from acid rain.

 

More than 1 million Pennsylvanians live with chronic lung diseases like asthma. Pennsylvania power plants are the sixth highest emitters of nitrogen oxides which cause smog pollution. High smog days trigger asthma attacks and make breathing difficult for those who live with lung disease. The polluted air also leads to polluted water ? nitrogen oxide pollution is contributing to the degradation of Pennsylvania waterways and the Chesapeake Bay .

 

 

This compromised environmental quality hurts our economic competitiveness and reduces our quality of life. Pennsylvania suffers from some of the nation?s worst air pollution, and ranks near the bottom among all fifty states in job creation and in population growth. It is painfully evident that polluted communities are not competitive, and that a growing economy depends on improving and maintaining our environment. Pennsylvania cannot have a healthy economy without a healthy environment.

Pennsylvania ranks third among all states for greenhouse gas emissions, and emits 1 percent of the entire planet?s global warming gases. Power plants account for a substantial amount of that by emitting almost 10 million metric tons of global warming gases annually. A warmer Pennsylvania will threaten human health as extremely hot summer days lead to increased deaths from heat stroke, and formerly tropical insect-borne diseases such as West Nile Virus spread. Warming degrades ecosystems, and threatens to lead to more frequent and extreme storms resulting in property damage and disruptions to the economy.