HARRISBURG, October 29, 2015: State Senator Art Haywood made the following statement on Senate Bill 805 after voting in favor of the legislation during a Consumer Protection Committee meeting:

“During a Consumer Protection Committee meeting this week, I voted in favor of Senate Bill 805 (SB 805). SB 805 is intended to encourage manufacturing in Pennsylvania by allowing industrial consumers, who already have the motivation to maximize energy efficiency, to opt-out of the Energy Efficiency & Conservation (EE&C) program. The majority of states with mandatory utility-administered EE&C programs have an opt-out for industrial companies, and moving forward with this legislation will allow Pennsylvania to compete with them. Those industrial consumers that opt-out would no longer be eligible to receive EE&C grants, would not be required to pay the EE&C cost recovery surcharge and would be removed from the EE&C electronic distribution company’s targets for the phase.

While I voted in favor of SB 805 in Committee, I am concerned about the reservations that some environmental advocates have regarding this legislation. I have reached out to the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and am working on amendments now. My continued support of SB 805 is dependent upon changes to the bill that would address these concerns. By voting to approve SB 805 in Committee, my intention is to move the legislation forward so that further input from a variety of stakeholders can be taken into consideration.”

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Contact: Melissa Ostroff

mostroff@pasenate.com

215-242-8171