PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia Energy Authority has exceeded the goals set 10 years ago when it launched the Philadelphia Energy Campaign, according to a consultant’s report released on Monday.
Former City Council President Darrell Clarke took the stage at his 2016 inauguration and announced an initiative he said would generate $1 billion in investments and create 10,000 jobs.
“This is one of those times when there’s a vision, there are a lot of people telling you you can’t achieve it, there are lobbyists all over the place lobbying against it, but ultimately we actually had no idea that this would grow to be what it is today, the scope, the scale,” Clarke said.
His projections were a bit of a “Hail Mary,” but 10 years later, an E-consult report found the campaign actually generated $1.3 billion and created more than 11,000 jobs. And that’s not to mention another billion dollars in energy savings and reduced emissions from weatherizing and solarizing homes and public buildings, upgrading 130,000 street lights with energy-efficient bulbs, and generating 25% of the city government’s electricity from a solar farm.
Energy Authority President Emily Schapira said the effort shows relatively modest government funding (Philadelphia has put less than $15 million into it over 10 years) can pay big dividends.
“For every one dollar of city investment, we’ve spurred $90 of local investment in clean energy projects and programs.”
