The Twin States Clean Energy Link plans to bring 1,200 megawatts of clean Canadian hydropower to New England, New Hampshire’s Republican Gov. Chris Sununu said Wednesday. The link would also run through Vermont, according to a release.
Pitting the nation’s most popular governor supported by an outspoken citizenry vs. an ostensibly veto-proof legislative supermajority, the S.5 battle will be the veto session’s main event.
A proposed solar farm in Charlotte would see about 12,500 panels lined in rows across 21 acres on Lake Road. The project will be run by Encore Renewable Energy, a Burlington solar company. The 5-megawatt solar farm is expected to run for 25 years.
The latest Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and Forecast Report (1990-2020) has been released by the Agency of Natural Resources Climate Action Office. The report provides estimates of greenhouse gas emissions in various sectors of the Vermont economy.
Democrats passing off responsibility to unelected commissions runs long and deep. Whenever possible, left-leaning legislators use majorities to create increasing costs through fiscal or regulatory burdens over which they can claim no control.
If the future capacity estimates are based on unrealistic government policy goals, ISO-NE is contracting for more power than the region will need. But if ISO-NE is not contracting for that amount of future electricity, it is a strong signal that the real world does not take these policy targets seriously.
Gov. Phil cott needs 11 senators to vote to sustain his veto of S.5. He can count on all seven Republicans and three Democrats: Bobby Starr (D-Orleans), Dick Mazza (D-Grand Isle), and Irene Wrenner (D-Chittenden North). That makes 10. He needs one more.
A member of the Office of Legislative Counsel on Thursday told the Vermont Senate Resources and Energy Committee that S.5 doesn’t “bind a future legislature” and allows “flexibility” in how future lawmakers choose to act on the policy.
Governor Phil Scott is spot on in his analysis. His explanation and clarity shed light on the inherent problems with S.5.
The full Senate voted 20-10 to concur with the House version of S.5, the clean heat standard bill, sending it to the governor’s desk. Gov. Phil Scott is expected to veto the bill.
“The key point of my question is, do you believe it is equitable for elderly Vermonters who can’t afford a solar panel (or whose home is not located in a place where they can effectively install one) to subsidize yours? It is a simple tax policy question.”
“For these reasons and more, I will veto S.5, and I’m asking Vermonters, even the many who have already contacted their legislators, to make their voices heard and ask their representatives and senators to sustain this veto.”