Influential House chair and climate hawk tells her committee CHS can’t move forward without a vote
by Guy Page
The Clean Heat Standard cannot be implemented without further approval of the Legislature, Rep. Kathleen James, one of its strongest proponents in the Legislature confirmed in a Wednesday, May 28 letter.
The 2023 ‘Affordable Heat Act’ requires the Public Utilities Commission, the state’s energy regulation board, to establish a Clean Heat Standard program to transform heating Vermont’s buildings from the prevalent fossil fuels of natural, oil, propane and kerosene to electric-powered heat pumps, advanced wood chip furnaces, and weatherization. A de facto tax on fossil fuels would pay for the ambitious transition.
Clean Heat Standard supporters say it’s necessary to meet carbon reduction mandates established by the Global Warming Solutions Act, and that once implemented it will save money in the long run because (they say) electricity is cheaper than fossil fuels and will remain so, especially due to the ‘social costs’ (health impacts, catastrophic weather) of climate change.
Opponents say renewable-based electricity is expensive now and there is no guarantee it will be cheaper in the long run, that the bureaucratic and workforce costs of transitioning to electricity will be steep, and that in any case Vermont contributes only a sliver of the world’s carbon emissions.
They also question the effectiveness of heat pumps in extreme cold weather.
Facing the uncertainties raised by its critics, the Senate passed the AHA only after a handful of senators agreed on a ‘checkback’ provision requiring the Legislature to act before implementation. Nevertheless, some lawmakers have been proceeding with early planning steps and funding despite the lack of a checkback. An effort to repeal the Clean Heat Standard was stymied in the Senate. A House repeal bill introduced by Republicans was ignored in the House by Energy and Digital Technology Chair Kathleen James.
Yet even a climate hawk like James appears to see the writing on the wall: the CHS has been studied by the PUC and has been found wanting. Her May 28 letter to her committee (“HED”) references a May 27 Public Utilities Commission letter saying that
1) the Clean Heat Standard can’t be implemented without additional legislative approval,
2) The Legislature didn’t take that step,
3) so the Public Utilities Commission won’t take any further action.
The May 27 PUC letter clearly outlines the the energy regulator’s unwillingness and legal inability to proceed with the Clean Heat Standard. For example:
“Finally, Section 8131 of Title 30 provides, “Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the Commission shall not file proposed rules with the Secretary of State implementing the Clean Heat Standard without specific authorization enacted by the General Assembly.”