State Sen. Joe Picozzi and state Rep. Martina White last week were among those celebrating a Solar for Schools grant to Community College of Philadelphia Northeast Regional Center, 12901 Townsend Road.
Picozzi and White were joined by CCP interim President Alycia Marshall; Jeanna Perlman, executive director of the CCP Northeast Regional Center; state Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, chairwoman of the newly established House Energy Committee and sponsor of the Solar for Schools bill that became law; and state Rep. Morgan Cephas, chairwoman of the Philadelphia House delegation and a CCP board member.
The gathering took place on CCP Northeast’s third-floor outdoor patio. Viktor Kagan, chief of staff for state Rep. Sean Dougherty, was also on hand.
CCP Northeast was awarded $176,695 in a Solar for Schools grant to assist with the costs of installing rooftop solar arrays, following a successful application. CCP’s main campus at 17th and Spring Garden streets received a grant for $329,000.
Solar for Schools, which passed last year, has awarded 73 schools a total of nearly $22.5 million. Fiedler is happy that what she called a great idea is now making a meaningful difference, adding that she hopes to see more people enter the solar installation field.
White, who supported the bipartisan bill, called it a “smart step forward.”
“When we work together,” she said, “Pennsylvania wins.”
Perlman said CCP Northeast, with more than 1,700 students, is already a certified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) facility, and added that the grant will offset 12 percent of the electricity it uses.
Picozzi, chairman of the Senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee, once took a summer course at CCP Northeast. Though he wasn’t in office when the bill passed, he was happy that the Senate and House approved what he called a “future-oriented” measure in bipartisan fashion.
Marshall said the “forward thinking and innovative” Solar for Schools program will reduce CCP’s energy costs and allow the college to reinvest the savings in other areas. ••
