The City of Philadelphia announced it will procure clean energy from the 20-megawatt (MW) Abes Run Solar project through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).
Once operational, the solar project will supply approximately 5 percent of municipality electricity use, which is six times the amount City Hall uses in a year. Per the PPA, Abes Run Solar will electrify Philadelphia’s municipal operations for 20 years at a fixed rate, allowing the city to lock in savings while making progress toward its goal of running City operations with 100 percent clean power.
The Philadelphia Energy Authority (PEA) holds the contract with Oriden Power, a Mitsubishi Power Americas Company based in Pittsburgh.
The 92-acre site, located in Clearfield County, will feed power into the regional grid and allow the city to qualify for renewable energy credits through Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard.
The project is Philadelphia’s second utility-scale PPA, following Adams Solar, a 70-MW facility that finished construction in 2024. Together, the sites will generate enough power to account for roughly 30 percent of municipal electricity needs.
“My administration is committed to progress that delivers cleaner air, lower costs, and a more resilient future. With projects like Abes Run Solar, the City of Philadelphia is leading by example,” said Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, in a statement. “Abes Run Solar is proof that large cities like Philadelphia can achieve our sustainability and fiscal responsibility objectives. We get affordable, zero-carbon electricity for decades to come. We create good-paying jobs. And we make our city cleaner, greener, and more sustainable.”
Abes Run Solar is part of a multi-year sustainable operations strategy, detailed in the Municipal Energy Master Plan. The city anticipates reaching a 50-percent reduction in built environment carbon emissions and a 20-percent reduction in building-sector energy use by 2030.
Michael Berlin, COO of Oriden, added, “The City of Philadelphia’s investment in solar shows great leadership and ensures its power generation needs are met sustainably and affordably. Oriden values the City of Philadelphia’s collaboration and we will execute with a focus on exceptional quality.
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