ERG's Alternative Energy Report

January 6, 2011 New Session Commences as Members Elect Top Leadership Posts Volume 5, Issue 1 The 2011-12 legislative session officially kicked off on Tuesday, as members of the state House and Senate were sworn into office. Significantly, 29 new members – a full 14% of the House - took the oath as freshman members. The day also included a changing of the guard in the House of Representatives from last session’s Democratic majority. Rep. Sam Smith (R-Punxsutawney) was unanimously elected as Speaker of the House. Smith previously served as House Leader for the Republicans. Both Smith and House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) started the session with messages of working together to shrink state government. In the Senate, Joseph Scarnati (R-Jefferson) was re-elected to his post as President Pro Tempore. The House swore in 21 new Republicans and eight new Democrats. In the Senate, three new Democratic members were officially added to the chamber. Both chambers are one member short due to the recent passing of Senate Minority Whip Mike O’Pake (D-Berks) and Rep. Robert Donatucci (D- Philadelphia). A special election will be held for the Philadelphia House seat on Feb. 1, and for the Senate seat on March 15. Both chambers have recessed for two weeks, and return Jan. 18 for the inauguration of Gov.-elect Tom Corbett and Lt. Gov.-elect Jim Cawley. Corbett Names Ward as Chief of Staff; Zogby as Budget Secretary Governor-elect Tom Corbett has announced that Bill Ward will become his Chief of Staff. Ward, 59, served as Corbett’s top deputy during his first stint in the Attorney General’s Office, under Gov. Tom Ridge. He served in the U.S. attorney’s office in the early 1980s, and ran the Board of Probation and Parole from 1997-2003. Corbett campaign manager and transition chief of staff Brian Nutt initially was named to the chief-of-staff role, but Nutt announced last month that he would be taking a position with Corbett's campaign consulting firm, Pittsburgh- and Virginia-based BrabenderCox. Ward will join a circle of senior Corbett staffers who have been with him for years, most during Corbett's second stint at the Office of Attorney General. Ward received his bachelor’s degree in history from the College of the Holy Cross, and his law degree from the Temple University School of Law. He and his wife have been married for 27 years, and have a son and a daughter. Corbett also named Charles Zogby of suburban Harrisburg as his choice to serve as Budget Secretary. Zogby has extensive experience in state government, and served as the director of former Gov. Tom Ridge's policy office and as state Education Secretary under Ridge and Gov. Mark Schweiker, in 2001-03. Since then Zogby, now 48, has been a senior vice president of K12 Inc., which develops online school curricula. Senate Republicans Name Committee Chairs Yesterday, Senate Republicans named their committee chairs for the upcoming 2011-12 Session, bringing a few changes to last session’s roster. Mike Brubaker (Lancaster) who served as Ag Committee Chair in 2009-2010, was named as Chairman of the Finance Committee, which is responsible for legislation affecting taxation and revenues. Taking his place as Ag Committee Chairman is Sen. Elder Vogel (Beaver), a fourth generation dairy farmer. Sen. Mary Jo White (Venango) will remain chair of the Environmental Resources & Energy Committee. Senate Democrats have not finalized their list of committee chairs, as an election will be held in caucus to fill the late Sen. O’Pake’s role as Majority Whip, an election that could alter the look of various committees. O’Pake was also Democratic Chair of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. The Democratic ER&E Chair had been Sen. Raphael Musto, who retired in 2010. The complete roster of House and Senate committee assignments has not been finalized. ERG will post those assignments at www.pa-erg.com when they become available. Senate Counsel Steve MacNett to Retire; Malpezzi Named New General Counsel ERG congratulates Stephen MacNett, Senate Majority General Counsel, who will end his 44-year career on Friday. As a staff person, Steve has crafted a record of achievement never before seen in the General Assembly, and has been critical to GOP successes in the Senate for decades. The consummate insider for more than four decades, MacNett has been key developing policies, legislative strategies, and successful political operations for the Senate Majority. He has made passage of hundreds of bills possible through his involvement with policy and legislation. ERG wishes Steve well in the future. Donna Malpezzi, who has been the GOP’s Deputy General Counsel, was named as the new general counsel for the caucus by Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware). MacNett was often referred to as the 51st Senator, in recognition of his power in the position, historical knowledge, vision, political and strategic excellence among senior Republican staff. Pileggi wrote to his caucus of MacNett’s 44 years with the Senate GOP and 33 years as its general counsel, in an email: “his record is unparalleled and it may never be matched.” Pennsylvania Farm Show Gets Underway The 95th Pennsylvania Farm Show kicks off this weekend, with a reception on Friday January 7 and opening ceremonies on January 8. The largest indoor agriculture exposition in the hemisphere has also become one of the state’s largest showcases for renewable energy, as complex building managers have adopted solar power technologies and other renewable energy sources as ways to reduce their electricity output. Patrick Kerwin, the director of Pennsylvania's farm show, says that the various recycling and energy savings projects implemented by his team have already brought about major cost savings. Kerwin expects the changes to yield even more savings during the show, January 8-14. According to the state Department of Agriculture, expenses for the farm show were down $761,000 during the last fiscal year, making 2009 through 2010 the leanest spending year since 2005-2006. The farm show has instituted a strict recycling program and installed photovoltaic systems that power not only the buildings, but also heat water as it moves toward a reduction in its energy use. In addition to physical energy-friendly upgrades, the Farm Show will once again be home to a renewable energy exhibit, designed to highlight well- established as well as exciting new alternative energy sources helping lower energy costs for families and businesses, clean the environment, and strengthen Pennsylvania's national security by reducing dependence on foreign oil. PUC Judge Rules that Owners and Operators of Natural Gas Gathering Pipelines are Not Public Utilities Midstream pipeline operators looking to use the Commonwealth's power of eminent domain to acquire pipeline easements to link the lucrative gas being extracted from the Marcellus Shale formation with transmission pipelines were dealt a setback through a proposed ruling from a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) administrative law judge. The operator, Laser Marcellus Gathering Company LLC (Laser), filed an application with the PUC for a Certificate of Public Convenience to construct and to operate a six-mile natural gas gathering pipeline in Susquehanna County. Laser sought public utility status so that it could acquire easements through eminent domain proceedings from property owners who are not willing to enter into a private arrangement. Administrative Law Judge Susan Colwell ruled that, because Laser was not offering services to the public for compensation, it could not be regulated as a public utility. Under Pennsylvania law, only public utilities can utilize the Commonwealth's power of eminent domain to condemn and acquire land. If the decision is confirmed by the Commission, and is not then overturned by the Commonwealth Court through a likely appeal, any midstream operator seeking to construct such a pipeline would have to painstakingly negotiate separate agreements with all the surface landowners along the pipeline's desired route. 112th Congress Begins This week also brought the start of the 112th United Sates Congress. With one of the largest freshman classes to date, members were sworn into office. As expected, Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) was sworn in as Speaker of the lower chamber. He promptly started session with a change in rules and procedures which the Republicans intend to use to make spending and program cuts. Newly appointed House Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep. Frank Lucas (R- OK) has named Glenn 'GT' Thompson (R-Pa.) as the Agriculture Subcommittee Chair on Conservation, Energy & Forestry. Thompson has also retained seats on the House Agriculture and the House Education & Labor Committees, in addition to a new appointment on the House Natural Resources Committee. The jurisdiction of the Conservation, Energy & Forestry Subcommittee will include soil, water, and resource conservation; the small watershed program; energy and bio-based energy production; rural electrification; and forestry in general. EPA to Limit Power Plant, Refinery Emissions The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued its plan for moving forward on greenhouse gas limits for fossil fuel power plants and petroleum refineries—which represent nearly 40 percent of GHG emissions in the US. EPA’s schedule calls for it to propose limits for power plants in July 2011 and for refineries in December 2011 and will issue final limits in May 2012 and November 2012, respectively. Beginning in January, the EPA is requiring power plants, industrial plants and other large stationary greenhouse gas sources to obtain pollution permits under what it calls a “common-sense approach” to GHG permitting for the largest industrial sources. These facilities will be required to include GHGs in their permit if they increase these emissions by at least 75,000 tons per year.

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