Earlier this year, the Vermont Legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto to pass an expansion of the state’s Renewable Energy Standard, or RES, putting us on track to delivering 100% renewable energy statewide by 2035.
The Renewable Energy Standard is a framework through which Vermont’s electrical utilities are required to acquire energy from renewable sources and generate a portion of that renewable energy in-state. Originally passed in 2015, this update increases how much renewable energy is required to make up the share of the state’s total energy use.
- This legislation marks the single largest move away from polluting fossil fuels and towards renewable energy ever taken by the state in the electric sector. The new RES more than quadruples the amount of new renewable energy utilities are required to deliver to Vermonters.
- The updated RES will reduce Vermont’s reliance on New England’s fossil fuel plants, most of which are located in areas with a higher than average amount of low-income households, people of color, or children under the age of 5. Currently, Vermont exports most of the environmental consequences of energy production and ranks 48th in the country for our share of electricity produced in-state.
- This legislation will have positive environmental impacts in a big way. It is estimated that the updated RES will eliminate as much climate pollution as taking 160,000-240,000 cars off the road by 2035.
- The law also requires Vermont’s three utilities that are already 100% renewable to get most of the new power they need as electricity use increases from new renewables. And once all of Vermont is 100% renewable in 2035, that requirement will apply to Green Mountain Power and most of Vermont’s other utilities as well, ensuring that more and more new renewables will be built as more of Vermont’s transportation and heating needs are met with electricity.
- This new update allows utilities to adopt tailored renewables to fit the needs of Vermont’s smaller rural co-ops and municipal utilities to keep costs down for ratepayers, a change from the previous “one size fits all” approach.
This new law is truly groundbreaking legislation and puts Vermont on track to be just the second state to reach 100% renewable energy by 2035, behind Rhode Island. Despite this fast pace of renewable adoption, the new RES is expected to have minimal impact on total electricity spending in the coming years, with the prices of renewables continuing to drop as they become more widespread.