Energy company PECO will add its biggest solar project to date after pressure from state advocates.
In a new agreement announced Monday, the utility company said it would procure a 25 megawatt — enough for about 3,000 homes — solar plant to buy energy from. It’s the the largest build of its kind ever from an electric utility in Pennsylvania, although there have been bigger ones from private companies.
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PECO provides service for about 1.7 million customers in Pennsylvania. Until now, people who wanted to power their homes with renewable energy had to go through the utility’s Customer Choice program and buy from third-party services — which those receiving bill assistance can’t take part in. This deal, however, is for the 75% of customers receiving default service, which lets PECO decide where to get the power from.
It’s unique as well because PECO will pay for not just energy but capacity, an extra cost to ensure that the 25 megawatts will be available to PECO at all times.
Every four years, PECO had to submit its power purchasing plan to the Public Utility Commission. Its original plan, prior to this agreement, did include a plan to double its renewable energy credits but did not add more solar power to its mix. Currently, 0.5% of PECO’s energy comes from solar. This updated plan covers the period of June 1, 2025 through May 31, 2029.
A number of groups weighed in on the plan, advocating for more clean power, to get this result, including POWER Interfaith, Vote Solar, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Clean Air Council and PennEnvironment, among others. Part of their testimony said that had PECO done more with renewable energy instead of just credits, it could have saved between $67 and $89 million for customers between 2021 and 2025.
“The life-threatening hurricanes that pummeled Florida and other southern states last month should make it clear that the companies that produce and supply our energy must do their part to prioritize and provide clean, renewable energy to their customers,” said Flora Cardoni, deputy director of PennEnvironment, in a statement. “We know that Pennsylvanians want that, and our planet needs it.”
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