Jobs | Green Energy News

April 4, 2004 – Vol.9 No.2

JOBS.

Since the sources of some renewable energies are essentially free - sun, wind, flowing water, the heat of the earth - it is the conversion of these sources into usable form such as electricity are where costs occur.

While end users of renewable energies ultimately have to pay these costs - the purchase, installation, maintenance and management of capital equipment for instance - at the other end, the receiving end of the costs, somebody gets paid to do some work. In other words, somebody gets a job when people buy renewables.

In an economic impact study for the proposed Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) for the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, a net of 85,000 new jobs would be created in the state over a period of 20 years as a result of the mandated investment in renewables.

The study, performed by consulting firm Black and Veatch, showed also that gross state output would increase by $10.1 billion over the period and earnings for the state would be $2.8 billion.

And the cost of the RPS on consumers? About 30 cents per month per average residential customer.

The study was prepared for the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies and funded by the Heinz Endowments. Teresa Heinz, wife of U.S. presidential candidate Senator John Kerry, is chairperson of the Howard Heinz Endowment, one half of the Heinz Endowments.

For the full report http://www2.bv.com/energy/eec/renewPennStudy.htm , the Heinz Endowments at http://www.heinz.org/ .