An Act authorizing the Department of Environmental Protection, in consultation with the Department of General Services to lease certain submerged lands within Erie County and associated wind, water and solar resources for the assessment, development, construction and operation of utility scale offshore wind, solar or kinetic energy generation facilities; providing for collection of certain lease and royalty payments; establishing the Lake Erie Large-Scale Energy System Development Fund; and providing for distributions and transfers from the fund.
This bill authorizes Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection to lease submerged lands in Lake Erie (Erie County) for utility-scale offshore wind, solar, or kinetic energy projects, with requirements to avoid nearshore areas, shipping lanes, and migratory pathways. It establishes the Lake Erie Large-Scale Energy System Development Fund to collect lease and royalty payments from these projects, with funds distributed for energy development and related purposes. The bill sets a lease size limit of 25 to 10,000 contiguous acres and mandates that designated areas be developed in consultation with conservation agencies.
Bill status
in committee
1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Feb 5, 2025
Last action Feb 5, 2025
Floor votes
How they voted
No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
1
Key actions
0
Committee
1
Feb 5, 2025
Committee
Referred to Environmental & Natural Resource Protection
lower
1 primary · 12 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Bob Merski
DDemocratic
Co
Ben Sanchez
DDemocratic
Co
Ben Waxman
DDemocratic
Co
Carol Hill-Evans
DDemocratic
Co
Chris Pielli
DDemocratic
Co
Danielle Otten
DDemocratic
Co
Joe Hohenstein
DDemocratic
Co
Joe Webster
DDemocratic
Co
JG
José Giral
DDemocratic
Co
Malcolm Kenyatta
DDemocratic
Co
Maureen Madden
DDemocratic
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