“The Clean Heat Standard would cost hundreds of Vermonters their jobs. And it could leave thousands of Vermonters scrambling to find a new heating fuel provider if they could find one at all.” – Rep. Sally Achey
By Guy Page
The Clean Heat Standard passed the House yesterday by a 96-44 vote. The bill forces Vermont fossil-fuel dealers to either install non-fossil-fuel heating systems or pay others to do it.
H715 would create ‘clean heat credits.’ Each credit would represent a specific amount of clean energy. Each fossil-fuel dealer would be assigned a set amount of credits to retire. To do so, fuel dealers would be required to either install low-carbon heating systems, or else pay the value of the credits. These payments would then fund low-carbon heat installation by others.
The Clean Heat Standard is the Legislature’s effort to transition traditional fossil-fuel heat in homes and businesses to lower-carbon heat, including wood pellets, weatherization, and electric heat pumps.
Earlier this year, some fuel dealers told the House Energy and Technology Committee the Clean Heat Standard would put them out of business. Others said it could double homeowners’ cost of propane. The Clean Heat Standard program would be administered through the Public Utility Commission (PUC), the State of Vermont’s appointed ‘energy court.’
“Roughly 80% of these fuels sold in Vermont are bought through wholesalers in other states or Canada, and we have no authority or ability to force them to buy Vermont credits,” Rep. Sally Achey said in a VT Digger commentary explaining her opposition. “The only alternative was to stick a whole bunch of local mom-and-pop fuel dealerships with the mandate to buy credits. We heard testimony that these requirements would drive many of them out of business. It also makes administering an already unwieldy system even more complicated. The Clean Heat Standard would cost hundreds of Vermonters their jobs. And it could leave thousands of Vermonters scrambling to find a new heating fuel provider if they could find one at all.”
Before voting yes, the House yesterday rejected 44-96 an amendment by Rep. James Harrison (R-Mendon) to wait until first seeing the results from a March 15, 2023 report on projected costs and benefits of the Clean Heat Standard.
H715 now proceeds to the Senate. Here’s the roll call:
Achey of Middletown Springs Nay
Ancel of Calais Yea
Anthony of Barre City Yea
Arrison of Weathersfield Yea
Austin of Colchester Yea
Bartholomew of Hartland Yea
Beck of St. Johnsbury Nay
Birong of Vergennes Yea
Black of Essex Yea
Bluemle of Burlington Yea
Bock of Chester Yea
Bongartz of Manchester Yea
Bos-Lun of Westminster Yea
Brady of Williston Yea
Brennan of Colchester Nay
Briglin of Thetford Yea
Brown of Richmond Yea
Brownell of Pownal Absent
Brumsted of Shelburne Yea
Burditt of West Rutland Nay
Burke of Brattleboro Yea
Burrows of West Windsor Yea
Campbell of St. Johnsbury Yea
Canfield of Fair Haven Nay
Chase of Colchester Yea
Christie of Hartford Yea
Cina of Burlington Yea
Coffey of Guilford Yea
Colburn of Burlington Yea
Colston of Winooski Absent
Conlon of Cornwall Yea
Copeland Hanzas of Bradford Yea
Corcoran of Bennington Yea
Cordes of Lincoln Yea*
Cupoli of Rutland City Nay
Dickinson of St. Albans Town Nay
Dolan of Essex Yea
Dolan of Waitsfield Yea
Donahue of Northfield Nay
Donnally of Hyde Park Yea
Durfee of Shaftsbury Yea
Elder of Starksboro Yea
Emmons of Springfield Yea
Fagan of Rutland City Nay
Feltus of Lyndon Nay
Gannon of Wilmington Yea
Garofano of Essex Yea
Goldman of Rockingham Yea
Goslant of Northfield Nay
Grad of Moretown Yea
Graham of Williamstown Absent
Gregoire of Fairfield Nay
Hango of Berkshire Nay
Harrison of Chittenden Nay
Helm of Fair Haven Nay
Higley of Lowell Absent
Hooper of Burlington Yea
Hooper of Montpelier Yea
Hooper of Randolph Yea
Houghton of Essex Yea
Howard of Rutland City Yea
James of Manchester Yea
Jerome of Brandon Yea
Jessup of Middlesex Yea
Kascenska of Burke Nay
Killacky of South Burlington Yea
Kimbell of Woodstock Yea
Kitzmiller of Montpelier Absent
Kornheiser of Brattleboro Yea
Krowinski of Burlington Not Voting
Labor of Morgan Absent
LaClair of Barre Town Nay
LaLonde of South Burlington Yea
Lanpher of Vergennes Yea
Laroche of Franklin Nay
Lefebvre of Newark Yea
Lefebvre of Orange Nay
Leffler of Enosburgh Nay
Lippert of Hinesburg Yea
Long of Newfane Yea*
Marcotte of Coventry Nay
Martel of Waterford Nay
Masland of Thetford Yea
Mattos of Milton Nay
McCarthy of St. Albans City Yea
McCormack of Burlington Yea
McCoy of Poultney Nay
McCullough of Williston Yea
McFaun of Barre Town Nay
Morgan of Milton Nay
Morgan of Milton Nay
Morris of Springfield Yea
Morrissey of Bennington Nay
Mrowicki of Putney Yea
Mulvaney-Stanak of Burlington Yea
Murphy of Fairfax Nay
Nicoll of Ludlow Yea
Nigro of Bennington Yea
Norris of Sheldon Nay
Norris of Shoreham Nay
Notte of Rutland City Yea
Noyes of Wolcott Yea
O’Brien of Tunbridge Yea
Ode of Burlington Yea
Page of Newport City Nay
Pajala of Londonderry Yea
Palasik of Milton Absent
Parsons of Newbury Nay
Partridge of Windham Yea
Patt of Worcester Yea
Pearl of Danville Yea
Peterson of Clarendon Nay
Pugh of South Burlington Yea
Rachelson of Burlington Yea
Rogers of Waterville Yea*
Rosenquist of Georgia Nay
Satcowitz of Randolph Yea
Scheu of Middlebury Yea
Scheuermann of Stowe Nay
Shaw of Pittsford Nay
Sheldon of Middlebury Yea
Sibilia of Dover Yea
Sims of Craftsbury Yea
Small of Winooski Yea
Smith of Derby Nay
Smith of New Haven Nay
Squirrell of Underhill Yea
Stebbins of Burlington Yea*
Stevens of Waterbury Yea
Strong of Albany Nay
Sullivan of Dorset Absent
Surprenant of Barnard Yea
Taylor of Colchester Yea
Terenzini of Rutland Town Nay
Till of Jericho Yea
Toleno of Brattleboro Yea
Toof of St. Albans Town Nay
Townsend of South Burlington Yea
Troiano of Stannard Yea
Vyhovsky of Essex Yea
Walker of Swanton Nay
Walz of Barre City Yea
Webb of Shelburne Yea
White of Bethel Absent
White of Hartford Yea
Whitman of Bennington Yea
Williams of Granby Nay
Wood of Waterbury Yea
Yacovone of Morristown Yea
Yantachka of Charlotte Yea
Categories: Legislation
I would like this people to leave us alone
These folks voting yes are insane and completely out of touch with the working man and woman
These people are so, so ignorant.
Ugh.
More burdens for Vermonters to shoulder so the virtue signalling to the NWO can continue under the Golden Dome – which of course has become a simple for Vermont Tyranny for the past two years.
Nothing is changing.
WOW did i get lucky with this. 3yrs ago bought an automatic pellet boiler for our house. Not because we were going to save the world but because we liked it and i guess in the back of my mind i felt something stupid like this was going to come along
Barre City’s two idiots voted yea. Typical. DemocRATS want us back into the Stone Age.
Anyone READ this monstrosity? There was a good summation in 7Days on March 3rd & it looks like a Soviet-Era make-work program on steroids, all for a 2 degree temp. rise in 120 years? “Professional utility regulators & energy analysts” are “authorized to hire consultants” to “manage public outreach” for 6 meetings & 2 workshops from “groups” & an “equity committee” for a mere $1.2 Million. Then Dealers buy/generate “clean heat credits” per year, then they MIGHT offset 5% of sales the next year & they “could meet these requirements” several ways, maybe “bio-diesel (from crops using A/N made from nat.’l gas & STILL pump out CO2), weatherizing, heat pumps, or modern wood stoves. Similar to biodiesel is “renewable natural gas” dumping the SAME CO2 but it FEELS better! BUT–The fuel dealers can “bank credits” retroactive to Jan. 2022 to “ease the transition”! Companies that don’t play along MUST pay the STATE an “increasing fee every year”, getting credits from companies that DO “earn them”..How many & how much? “To be determined”! This Duval fellow from the Climate Council says this scheme “will be disruptive to business models..regardless of the social consequences”..REALLY? Not to worry though, there’s PLENTY of Soviet-Style jobs to be had here for hacks, favors, campaign donations & political favors for “consultants, professional regulators, & analysts”! Those that still FEAR Covid can & will “work from home” I’m sure..THIS is pure insanity..
Here are the two things that bother me the most; 1. many of these elected officials look only at the one side of a law they are passing without looking at the potential pitfalls and slippery sloe they are entering upon. 2. the elitist attitude that they know better than the people of Vermont and, even worse, when they vote the party line at the cost of the people of Vermont.
You’re exactly right that they think they know better than the people they’re supposed to represent.
I would very much like our lawmakers……alll of them to give each of us access to the votes they took each week and why……….and i am calling out to Donnally and Noyes………just lost my vote and will be sharing prolifically ………..
Please do spread the word to everyone paying $5 a gallon to heat their homes and to fuel out cars to get to work!! Make sure they know progressives destroyed burlington and will destroy Vermont only if we let them!!
Dumb & Dumber, and dumber, and dumber, and dumber…,
Bills like this just confirms my plans to move out of Vermont as soon as possible!!!!
Yet these progressive socialists continue to be elected?? Don’t complain when heating oil is $6 a gallon and your paying $5 a gallon at the pump. These Vermont politicians as well as welch, sanders need to go…and we DO NOT need molly gray in DC either!!
I’ll be getting my fuel in MA and NH, and working faster to get my house ready to sell so I can move to America.
👍
Ruled by the elite!
Beginning to feel like we have a bunch of non thinking people in Montpelier. Scott better Vito this stupid bill or he can go bye bye with the rest of them. If they have no will to help Vermonters they don’t need to be voting for anything. God will take care of earth, has been at it for very very long time, and succeeded very nicely.
Perhaps, Rep. Scot Campbell can tell the citizens of Vermont why he voted for the Clean Heat Standard after previously admitting Vermont cannot cannot stop or even affect climate change……..Remember, Rep. Campbell sat on the House Energy and Technology Committee when all the testimony was presented on the Global Warming Solutions Act……Testimony leading him to believe that Vermont cannot stop or even affect climate change.
Rob Roper has repeatedly pointed out Rep. Campbell’s comments in his commentaries, which make Vermonters wonder if our legislators have any idea of what they’re doing in pushing more and more mandates that will have no impact on climate change…..Mandates that will have economically crushing consequences on all Vermonter’s.
Can Rep. Campbell or any other legislator who voted for the Clean Heat Standard any other related legislation can tell us how they will make lives more affordable, life better or mitigate climate change in any measurable way.
Please will the 96 legislators who voted for the Clean Heat standard speak to the people of Vermont in this space on how this bill will help!
My apologies to Rep. Sally Achey
Thank you for your mettle
I love this publication, details of issues, and legislative plans and the roll call, with email links.. it makes it easy to understand and speak up. I am..
Keep it up
Global warming is not something that can be stopped or reversed by the cutting back of fossil fuel use , renewables is a fad and will never provide an alternative to fossil fuels . Continuing this path to eliminate fossil fuels will be the death of us not climate change .
We are a great state but it’s getting impossible to stand on your own two feet. So many special deals, programs, advisory groups and commissions. New taxes and fees and special deals for the certain few. If you aren’t actively searching for the payouts, you are working yourself into a lather to fund those who do.
With that said, I hate to repeat it, but dogonnit, it bears repeating. A real Democrat that I know. And he’s legit. Called what these people are doing in the statehouse…. Legislative Masterba….. ehh.hem…ahh…I’ll leave it at that. But there is no doubt, those words sums up nicely the progressive pleasuring that these stoned hippies are engaged in. When a democrat notices that you’ve gone too far. You’ve gone too far.
Will this Democrat now vote Republican? I doubt it, but he’s going to keep getting the narrow visioned, garbage legislation from his progressive party if he can’t see his way over to the place old school Vermonters and adults are hanging out. Action…. Reaction…. IE: Legalize Pot and soft on drug offenses… Increased mental disorders and homelessness. 10,000 dollar grants to new residents who telecommute.. more housing shortages. Free daycare and increased benefits to baby mamas…. no need for a daddy in the picture…. Push solar and wind… increased rates and future brownouts (if California is any indication). The list is endless.
If you want the legislature to take care of the real business of running a state, there is no other option then to vote in Republican candidates.