Solar Power in western Pennsylvania celebrated

Tuesday, Feb 12, 2013

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Leaders from 24 local municipalities in Allegheny and Beaver County will be honored for their achievements in removing barriers to solar installation in their communities at a recognition ceremony on Wednesday, February 13 at 9:30 a.m. at Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh .

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130211/DC57616LOGO)

The advancements have come in just one year of cooperative actions to design model zoning laws and innovative funding approaches to make solar power installations possible for homes and small businesses. The work is part of a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant awarded to Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture) and its Three Rivers Solar Source project, in conjunction with the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC), CONNECT (Congress of Neighboring Communities), and Solar Unified Network of Western Pennsylvania (SUNWPA).

The 24 municipalities participating in the initiative include Aspinwall, Baldwin Borough, Brentwood, Carnegie, Collier, Dormont, Etna, Forest Hills, Green Tree, McKees Rocks, Monroeville, Mount Oliver, O'Hara, Pittsburgh, Richland, Scott, Sharpsburg, Shaler, Stowe, Upper St. Clair, West Mifflin, and Wilkinsburg in Allegheny County and Midland and Monaca in Beaver County. Representatives of the municipalities will be available for interviews.

PennFuture is a statewide public interest membership organization founded in 1998, with staff in Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Wilkes-Barre. Working from the premise that "Every environmental victory grows the economy," PennFuture has successfully advocated for landmark environmental legislation, including passage of the largest-ever environmental funding bond, public investment in green energy and energy savings programs, passage of the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, adoption of the Clean Vehicles Program, and adoption of a regulation to protect Pennsylvania's babies by restricting mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants. The Philadelphia Inquirer called PennFuture the "state's leading environmental advocacy organization," the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette named the organization "one of the ten most influential groups on the issue of natural gas drilling," and StateImpact Pennsylvania, an online collaboration of NPR stations across the state, called PennFuture "the commonwealth's main environmental advocate."

SOURCE Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future