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Solar power bond requirement passes senate

Senator Gene Yaw, R-Williamsport, co-chairs a joint committee hearing of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and the Community Economic and Recreational Development Committee recently in Harrisburg.

A divided Senate has approved decommissioning and financial requirements for solar generation projects in Pennsylvania.

Senate Bill 284 is sponsored by Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Bradford/Lycoming/Sullivan/Susquehanna/Union, and passed the Senate on Tuesday by a 35-14 vote. That was far from a party line approval with some Democrats voting for the bill and some Republicans voting against.

Sen Michele Brooks, R-Crawford/Erie/Mercer/Warren, and Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-Butler/Clarion/Forest/Venango/Warren, both voted in favor of the legislation. The bill now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration.

Senate Bill 284 includes a graduated, phase-in process for financial assurances, setting up five-year benchmarks using third-party professional engineers to assess and calculate fair market value of the project and costs to decommission it. The proposal was the subject of two attempted amendments on Monday, only one of which was approved. Similar requirements exist for coal, natural gas, solid waste and other industries in Pennsylvania.

“As Pennsylvania’s energy industry expands to include renewable resources, we must consider the most responsible way to ensure these new facilities are safely and appropriately retired,” Yaw said. “This bill safeguards both the landowner and our environment from the potential harm caused by a lack of decommissioning standards.”

Yaw’s proposal isn’t the only one dealing with solar projects. Rep. Kathy Rapp, R-Warren, introduced House Bill 2104 in December to require companies installing alternative energy equipment be responsible to take the equipment down no later than 18 months after the facility has stopped producing electricity. There are 11 Republican co-sponsors for Rapp’s bill, which has been sent to the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee for consideration.

Any alternative energy agreement will be required to include a decommissioning plan and proof of financing from a banking institution to pay to remove the solar panels or turbine. The plan would have to be updated on or before the fifth, 10th, 15th and 20th anniversaries of the green energy system’s construction with money held in escrow for the eventual decommissioning.

Rapp’s legislation also requires, before the 20th year the equipment is in use, for an updated decommissioning plan that shows how much material will be salvaged, recycled, refurbished or disposed of in a landfill, and no more than 20% of the equipment’s total mass will be accepted in a landfill as part of the plan.

Some of those ideas are included in Yaw’s proposal. Decommissioning would begin at least 18 months after a solar project stops producing electricity in the approved Senate legislation. Solar developers would be required to calculate decommissioning costs every five years by a third-party professional engineer. On the fifth, 10th, 15th, 20th and 25th anniversaries of the start of construction, developers would have to provide updated decommissioning plans and an increasing proof of financial assurance to take the solar project down.

Any decommissioning plan, according to Yaw’s legislation, would have to include costs to remove any non-utility owned equipment, conduits, structures, fencing and foundations to at least three feet below grade; the removal of graveled areas and access roads unless a property owner asks for one to remain; restoration of the property to reasonably similar condition to a property’s original condition and the reseeding of any cleared areas unless the property owner requests the area remain clear for agricultural planting.

“This bill provides uniformity and certainty statewide for solar generation facilities and landowners, which are often multi-generational,” Yaw said. “It’s important that Pennsylvania offers a regulatory framework that attracts the diversification of our energy resources, while still supporting landowners through the complicated and daunting task of safely decommissioning these facilities.”

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