This letter is in response to the “Affordable Heat Act: Facts v. Fiction” op-ed by Reps. Kathleen James and Seth Bongartz published in the Addison Independent print edition on September 26:

1. The 2023 report by Reps Kathleen James and Seth Bongartz is outdated by over a year. The “Clean Heat Standard of Thermal Sector Carbon Reduction Potential in Vermont” was released September 1, 2024.
2. According to this report, #2 fuel oil, as modeled, would increase by $29.10 per MMBTU, and by $23.20 per MMBTU for propane.
3. Here’s the math according to the report: it takes 7.194 gallons of #2 fuel oil to produce one MMBTU of heat. $29.10 divided by 7.194 gallons equals $4.045 per/gallon. For propane, the increased cost is $23.3 per MMBTU, divided by  10.917/gallon per MMBTU is an increase of $2.14 per gallon of propane. Now, it appears the number of BTU’s per gallon varies slightly according to the source you use, but they are all extremely close.
4. FACTS: Lawmakers acknowledge that the costs will be passed onto consumers: Lawmakers will vote on whether to approve this plan in January 2025: the 2024 Vermont Democrat platform includes fully implementing the GWSA in item #3 “Environmental Justice” and incumbents have not stated publicly whether they would put any cap on the cost.
5. Regarding the Education property tax: Democrats claim they voted to reduce the education property tax from 20% to 14%, when what they really did is allocate $25 Million of YOUR taxpayer money from the General Fund to the Education fund to give the appearance of reducing the tax burden without lowering expenses.

Renee McGuinness, Addison-4 House candidate