Leaders Working To Bring New, Renewable Energy Sources To Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Mayor Bill Peduto met with policy and business leaders this morning to discuss how people in Pittsburgh use different types of energy.

Mayor Peduto wants to make the city more energy efficient both in how we produce energy and how much we use.

Energy experts say the field is changing and Pittsburgh is a great place to be because we're the cradle of innovation.

"How do we manage the energy grid better and more efficiently and that really impacts people's bottom lines, whether it's your income or also important issues like local air quality," Pittsburgh Chief Resilience Officer Grant Ervin said.

Ervin is working with Peduto and County Executive Rich Fitzgerald to bring in companies like Siemens and Duquesne Light to introduce more renewable resources into solar and wind technology.

"There is increased customer interest in sustainability, but also resiliency of our energy infrastructure," Duquesne Light's Benjamin Morris said.

"You can put a solar panel on your house, put a storage unit in your garage and you can take your house off the grid and run independently and that's not only for an individual home, but an entire company," George Mason University's Dr. Gregory Unruh said.

It's called a micro grid. So, what does that mean for you?

"When extreme weather events happen there's a higher likelihood that the lights stay on," Siemens' Matthew Walters said.

It'll also be an economic driver for the region, according to experts with our universities.

"We're going to be extremely robust, we're going to see growth in the life sciences industry, energy, IT and software, A.I. and robotics," University of Pittsburgh's Rebecca Bagley said.

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