90.5 WESA s The Confluence for Monday, February 1, 2021
On today s program: Sustainable Pittsburgh executive director Joylette Portlock explains a planned hydroelectric plant signals the county’s commitment to renewable energy; Struggling tenants and landlords are still waiting for millions of dollars in rent relief allocated for the state; and the Frick Art Museum looks at its history and that of its founder, Helen Clay Frick in an exhibit.
Sustainable Pittsburgh executive director on the county’s upcoming hydroelectric plant
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Plans have been unveiled to construct a low-impact hydroelectric plant on the Ohio River at the Emsworth Dam that’s intended to power all Allegheny County buildings by 2023.
As of Jan. 28, Allegheny County has entered into a 35-year power purchase agreement with a company that will provide renewable hydropower for county facilities..
Jared Murphy / 90.5 WESA
Although President Joe Biden’s actions on climate change have stirred anxieties about job loss in energy-producing states like Pennsylvania, a new report predicts that plans like Biden’s could create roughly a quarter-million jobs annually in the Commonwealth. And within hours after the report s release, local officials announced a small but symbolic down payment on green energy investment.
The 243,000 clean-energy jobs that could be created each year over the next decade in Pennsylvania are jobs across the board,” said Robert Pollin, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and one of the study’s authors.
Tribune-Review file
Water flows through the Emsworth Lock and Dam along the Ohio River in this file photo. A planned hydropower plant will supply the electricity used in Allegheny County buildings, the county announced Thursday.
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The power used by the Allegheny County Courthouse, jail and other government buildings will be generated by hydroelectric energy harnessed from the Emsworth Lock and Dam, county Executive Rich Fitzgerald said Thursday.
Fitzgerald was joined by Paul Jacob, CEO of Boston-based Rye Development, which has an office in Downtown Pittsburgh, and other officials as they celebrated a milestone toward using more climate-friendly energy sources.