{"id":13673,"date":"2026-08-19T11:18:57","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/?p=13673"},"modified":"2026-08-19T11:18:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:18:58","slug":"energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/2026\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy Independence in PA! What’s it going to take? Can Solar be a Major Player in the Clean Alternative Energy Mix?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Electricity costs have skyrocketed over the past five years, rising on average by 46 percent
since 2018. This dramatic spike in costs is largely due to soaring energy demand, paired with
stagnant energy supply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means Pennsylvania must increase our energy supply to keep costs down \u2013 and the
cheapest and fastest type of energy to deploy is renewable energy, namely solar and energy
efficiency measures.<\/p>\n

Many households that go solar or use energy efficient measures save hundreds to even
thousands of dollars a year \u2013 and organizations that consume a lot of energy can save tens of
thousands a year or more.<\/p>\n

Our Executive Director, Bobby Hughes, is a volunteer with Energy Independence for Pennsylvania<\/a> and has been writing Op-Eds and been posting information to various social media groups to talk about Solar Energy in PA. We’ve done a lot of research on assessing solar suitability for abandoned mine lands. See our Assessment Report<\/a> co-authored and written by LaBella Associates and EPCAMR back in 2024.<\/p>\n

We are presenting and giving the Energy Independence for PA Presentation<\/a> to our EPCAMR Board Members for their review and further digestion after the meeting on August 20th, 2026, so that they can take it back to their communities and see if it’s something that might be of interest to their members of the community groups, watershed associations, and Conservation Districts that many of them represent. Check out the Energy Independence for PA website for resources and ways that you might be able to save money for you and your families as homeowners and for businesses and non-profits.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Electricity costs have skyrocketed over the past five years, rising on average by 46 percentsince 2018. This dramatic spike in costs is largely due to soaring energy demand, paired withstagnant energy supply. This means Pennsylvania must increase our energy supply to keep costs down \u2013 and thecheapest and fastest type\u2026<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/span><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[352,693,41,531,351,764,46,726],"class_list":["post-13673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abandoned-mine-lands-2","tag-alternative-energy","tag-anthracite","tag-clean-energy","tag-energy","tag-energy-affordability","tag-epcamr","tag-solar"],"yoast_head":"\nEnergy Independence in PA! What's it going to take? Can Solar be a Major Player in the Clean Alternative Energy Mix? - epcamr.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"solar energy in PA epcamr.org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/2026\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Energy Independence in PA! What's it going to take? Can Solar be a Major Player in the Clean Alternative Energy Mix? - epcamr.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"solar energy in PA epcamr.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/2026\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"epcamr.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bobby.hughes.23\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-19T15:18:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-19T15:18:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bobby Hughes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Robert_Hughes23\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bobby Hughes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/epcamr.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/epcamr.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bobby Hughes\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/epcamr.org\\\/home\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/41572eac38ec5c7d2e84eca4180a8882\"},\"headline\":\"Energy Independence in PA! What’s it going to take? Can Solar be a Major Player in the Clean Alternative Energy Mix?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-19T15:18:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-19T15:18:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/epcamr.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":276,\"keywords\":[\"abandoned mine lands\",\"alternative energy\",\"Anthracite\",\"clean energy\",\"energy\",\"energy affordability\",\"EPCAMR\",\"solar\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/epcamr.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/epcamr.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\\\/\",\"name\":\"Energy Independence in PA! What's it going to take? Can Solar be a Major Player in the Clean Alternative Energy Mix? - epcamr.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/epcamr.org\\\/home\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-19T15:18:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-19T15:18:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/epcamr.org\\\/home\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/41572eac38ec5c7d2e84eca4180a8882\"},\"description\":\"solar energy in PA epcamr.org\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/epcamr.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/epcamr.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/epcamr.org\\\/home\\\/2026\\\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/epcamr.org\\\/home\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Energy Independence in PA! What’s it going to take? Can Solar be a Major Player in the Clean Alternative Energy Mix?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/epcamr.org\\\/home\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/epcamr.org\\\/home\\\/\",\"name\":\"epcamr.org\",\"description\":\"Reclaim Abandoned Mine Lands through Partnerships Today, for a Cleaner Environment Tomorrow!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/epcamr.org\\\/home\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/epcamr.org\\\/home\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/41572eac38ec5c7d2e84eca4180a8882\",\"name\":\"Bobby Hughes\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/83ff905dc37620926607a030d66227ffbb14b4078083d0b7e7080c48cf5c5b4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/83ff905dc37620926607a030d66227ffbb14b4078083d0b7e7080c48cf5c5b4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/83ff905dc37620926607a030d66227ffbb14b4078083d0b7e7080c48cf5c5b4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bobby Hughes\"},\"description\":\"Bobby Hughes is the Executive Director for EPCAMR since the inception of the organization in 1996. For more information please visit his biography page.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.epcamr.org\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/bobby.hughes.23\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/robertehughes\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/Robert_Hughes23\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/epcamr.org\\\/home\\\/author\\\/rhughes\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Energy Independence in PA! What's it going to take? Can Solar be a Major Player in the Clean Alternative Energy Mix? - epcamr.org","description":"solar energy in PA epcamr.org","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/2026\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Energy Independence in PA! What's it going to take? Can Solar be a Major Player in the Clean Alternative Energy Mix? - epcamr.org","og_description":"solar energy in PA epcamr.org","og_url":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/2026\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\/","og_site_name":"epcamr.org","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bobby.hughes.23\/","article_published_time":"2026-08-19T15:18:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-19T15:18:58+00:00","author":"Bobby Hughes","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Robert_Hughes23","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bobby Hughes","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/2026\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/2026\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\/"},"author":{"name":"Bobby Hughes","@id":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/41572eac38ec5c7d2e84eca4180a8882"},"headline":"Energy Independence in PA! What’s it going to take? Can Solar be a Major Player in the Clean Alternative Energy Mix?","datePublished":"2026-08-19T15:18:57+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-19T15:18:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/2026\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\/"},"wordCount":276,"keywords":["abandoned mine lands","alternative energy","Anthracite","clean energy","energy","energy affordability","EPCAMR","solar"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/2026\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\/","url":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/2026\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\/","name":"Energy Independence in PA! What's it going to take? Can Solar be a Major Player in the Clean Alternative Energy Mix? - epcamr.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-08-19T15:18:57+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-19T15:18:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/41572eac38ec5c7d2e84eca4180a8882"},"description":"solar energy in PA epcamr.org","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/2026\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/2026\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/2026\/energy-independence-in-pa-whats-it-going-to-take-can-solar-be-a-major-player-in-the-clean-alternative-energy-mix\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Energy Independence in PA! What’s it going to take? Can Solar be a Major Player in the Clean Alternative Energy Mix?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/#website","url":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/","name":"epcamr.org","description":"Reclaim Abandoned Mine Lands through Partnerships Today, for a Cleaner Environment Tomorrow!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/41572eac38ec5c7d2e84eca4180a8882","name":"Bobby Hughes","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83ff905dc37620926607a030d66227ffbb14b4078083d0b7e7080c48cf5c5b4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83ff905dc37620926607a030d66227ffbb14b4078083d0b7e7080c48cf5c5b4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83ff905dc37620926607a030d66227ffbb14b4078083d0b7e7080c48cf5c5b4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bobby Hughes"},"description":"Bobby Hughes is the Executive Director for EPCAMR since the inception of the organization in 1996. For more information please visit his biography page.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.epcamr.org","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bobby.hughes.23\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/robertehughes\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Robert_Hughes23"],"url":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/author\/rhughes\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2xhIi-3yx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13673"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13681,"href":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13673\/revisions\/13681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epcamr.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}