Nearly $20 Million in Federal Funding Available to Spur Wind Energy Projects in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell announced that $19.8 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding [pdf] is now available for large-scale wind projects.

Rendell said the projects will generate clean energy, spur new orders for the Keystone State’s green energy manufacturers, and put Pennsylvanians back to work. In describing the importance of supporting clean energy technologies, the Governor said this latest investment builds upon Pennsylvania’s stature as one of the fastest growing states for wind energy in America.

“With the help of federal and state incentives -- and programs like Green Energy Works! -- Pennsylvania is paving the way to develop more large, shovel-ready wind projects,” Rendell said. “These are the types of projects that create jobs for people putting steel in the ground, while helping us to power our future in a cleaner, more environmentally friendly and efficient way.”

According to Rendell, Pennsylvania has been recognized for the growth of its wind energy sector, with three new wind farms beginning operation this year and additional projects coming on-line in the near future. Pennsylvania now has 595 megawatts of wind generation capacity, enough to power more than 178,000 homes.

According to the American Wind Energy Association, the state ranked second in the nation for wind industry growth during the second and third quarters of this year.

The Green Energy Works! wind program is open to projects located in Pennsylvania that use grant funds matched with private investments for wind energy systems of at least 3 megawatts of capacity and use Pennsylvania goods and services to the greatest extent possible.

Funds may be used to purchase and install equipment for producing wind energy or distributing energy by covering interconnection costs and network upgrades. All proposals must be for a minimum of $250,000 and may not exceed $19.8 million. All projects must create jobs and be completed by April 30, 2012.