Among the items that have kicked off the legislative year is the governor's Energy Plan, which sets out a framework for Vermont's energy future. From the Vermont Press Bureau, this update on the actual implementation of that framework:
MONTPELIER – One of the highest stakes games in the Statehouse this year is the move toward what's known as a Renewable Portfolio Standard, which is a requirement that electric utilities in Vermont have a certain amount of energy come from renewable resources like wind and solar.
The House Natural Resources and Energy Committee has taken extensive testimony on the idea, which is designed to spur the development of renewable energy. Shumlin said in his State of the State address that he wants to enact an RPS. And the quasi-judicial Public Service Board also recommends the idea, and has put forth a proposal that could add hundreds of millions of dollars to the cost of electricity over a 20-year period. (That's in the context of about $10 billion that Vermonters are expected to spend on electricity during that same period.)
Comments