Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell kicked off September by unveiling a new, $20.5 million, 40-project energy plan for his state, with the aim of creating jobs, increasing clean energy use and cutting back on overall energy use throughout Pennsylvania.

The power company is using state renewable energy credits and federal investment tax credits to finance the 33 total projects at schools, correctional facilities and municipal buildings that will generate roughly 100 kilowatt-hours (kWh) each. But by installing the solar energy systems in poor areas, Main Street Power will also be able to utilize federal development tax credits.

If you want to grow the solar industry here, you have to produce the equipment here, you have to use the equipment here, and you have to deploy the product here. And then you have to develop an export market.”

Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, can now give you home energy saving tips through its PowerMeter – a web tool that lets you monitor your home’s energy use from anywhere you can access the internet.

In an effort to further strengthen his state’s, “New Energy Economy,” Colorado Governor Bill Ritter has recently announced $2.2 million in New Energy Economic Development (NEED) grants for 23 state communities, school districts and nonprofits.

The U.S. Department of Defense has developed two different types of portable renewable energy systems for frontline soldiers in Afghanistan to use.

The plan is called the Renewable Auction Mechanism (RAM). It would would work much in the same way a Feed-in Tariff (FiT) system works, with the difference being that rates of the tariff would be set by an open bidding process. This would help in two ways: It would drive down high consumer rates and bring in returns for solar developers that are still within reason.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) SENSEable City Lab revealed its oil-sucking robots – named Seaswarm Robots – for the world to see. The robots are capable of spotting oil completely on their own, and when the oil is found, they use a GPS system to coordinate with their robots teammates to gather in one area and decide the most efficient way to clean up the mess.

By the end of this calendar year, all 16 schools in the Denver Public School District will be equipped with rooftop solar arrays, thanks to MP2 Capital and a grant via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

MP2 Capital is a leading developer, financier and operator of solar energy systems throughout North America. The company [...]

Now, pending approval from the attorney general and a final vote by the five-person ACC panel in the Fall, the state’s natural gas companies will be required to slash their fuel sales by six percent by that same 2020 deadline.