Map shows what’s possible with federal clean energy investment in Pa.

A new map shows how Inflation Reduction Act money in the form of grants and tax credits for renewable energy and climate resiliency projects has been invested in Pennsylvania. Evergreen Collaborative and Penn Environment Research & Policy Center compiled a snapshot of 50 or so projects across the state from public announcements, press releases and work on the ground.

Flora Cardoni is the deputy director of PennEnvironment. She acknowledges that, though some IRA money has been frozen and contracts canceled, the map shows that climate projects are popular across the state.

How much has Pennsylvania received from the IRA?

Flora Cardoni: Federal investments from the Inflation Reduction Act in Pennsylvania state agencies and through a lot of these grants exceed $3 billion. There’s also a lot of funding through the Inflation Reduction Act for federal clean energy and energy efficiency tax credits for individuals and businesses and nonprofits. We found that last year, 160,000 Pennsylvanians saved more than $260 million on their taxes because of those investments, so the total is much higher.

Is this money that has already rolled out in people’s bank accounts, or is it money that’s promised? 

This map highlights projects that are in place — so, you know, houses of worship that have already gone solar or upgrades that have been made to energy efficiency, which is great. A huge amount of progress [has been made] across the Keystone state with folks becoming more energy independent, increasing the amount of clean renewable energy and saving energy and money.

But unfortunately, there are a lot of investments that have been promised to Pennsylvania that are being frozen or stalled. And there are risks to programs like those clean energy tax credits and incentives being rolled back as well.

Tell me a little bit about a couple of the projects highlighted. 

There’s a dairy farm that received a grant to install about 400 solar panels, which will not only help them be more energy independent and resilient but also save the farm about $15,000 in energy costs each year. We know that increasingly our Pennsylvania farmers are facing a tight bottom line, so going solar is certainly a way to help save money while also investing in a cleaner future.

There is a machine and fabrication company in Lawrence County, Hall Industries, that’s installing energy-efficient LED lighting with federal clean energy funding, which will lower their energy consumption by about 14%, saving energy, lowering pollution, but also saving the company about $15,000 a year in energy costs.

I also just like to highlight all of the houses of worship that are going solar. Crafton Heights Presbyterian is a great example where by going solar, they’re reducing their energy costs in a way that’s allowing the church to invest more in their mission work, food pantry, preschool, youth programs, and helping at the same time kind of with their values with…