MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont regulators this week announced it will cost Vermonters nearly a billion dollars over the next decade to implement a so-called “Clean Heat Standard.” Vermont lawmakers two years ago teed up the controversial measure intended to wean the state away from using climate-polluting fossil fuels to heat homes and businesses. But with November’s election results and a new focus at the Statehouse on affordability, the prospects of getting that bill across the finish line have become increasingly remote.
“The Clean Heat Standard is not fundamentally a wrong program, we just don’t think it’s a good fit for Vermont,” said Public Utility Commission Chair Ed McNamara, who on Thursday shared the final results of an 18-month, $1.7 million study to determine the measure’s costs.
Estimates show it would cost taxpayers over $950 million over the next decade and would raise the cost of heating oil by 8 cents in the first year and up to 58 cents in year 10. The bulk of the cost is the upfront investment for new equipment.
“If you’re adding $250 to $300 a winter to your heating bill, that’s significant, ” said Matt Cota with the Vermont Fuel Dealer’s Association.
But the report also found it would save $1.5 billion in societal savings from cutting climate pollution. “The main issue isn’t whether we have the necessary existing programs, it’s whether we have sufficient funding to meet the Global Warming Solutions Act requirements,” McNamara said.
The Clean Heat Standard is aimed at speeding up the adoption of green thermal options like electric heat pumps and transitioning low-income Vermonters from the sometimes volatile costs of the fossil fuel market. The measure was a hot-button issue on the campaign trail, which, in part, led to Republican gains at the Statehouse. GOP leaders have called to repeal the measure and remove the ability for Vermonters to sue the state under the Global Warming Solutions Act. They say it will cost Vermonters too much up front to meet those mandates.
“To put us on a different glide slope that our General Fund can afford, and one that the budgets of our families can afford,” said Sen. Scott Beck, R-Caledonia County.
But Senate Natural Resources Committee Chair Anne Watson, D-Washington County, says the PUC also offered other solutions to achieve those goals, including a new carbon tax, more incentives for weatherization, or partnering with other states for a Clean Heat Standard. “People with money are already making these changes,” she said. She adds that Vermont needs to stay the course on its climate commitments. “If we can get Vermonters over that hump to get to those cheaper alternatives, it will benefit Vermonters.”
Meanwhile, Vermont continues to see flooding and other impacts of a warming climate, as well as a lawsuit for missing its climate reduction goals. One way or another, state lawmakers need to decide whether or not to approve the Clean Heat Standard, either this session or next.