Montpelier, Vt. - Governor Phil Scott today issued the following statement regarding H.289, which could cost Vermonters $1 billion over the next decade.
“Acting to implement the Environmental Justice Law that the Legislature passed, and I signed in 2022, the Public Service Department conducted a thorough 18-month public engagement process to understand Vermonters’ priorities for our clean and renewable electricity supply.
“Based on that work, the Department proposed a bill that would exceed H.289’s progress toward meeting emissions reductions required by the Global Warming Solutions Act. The cost of the Department’s proposal is projected to be substantially lower than the billion-dollar price tag that H.289 has been shown to potentially carry.
“In short, the Department did its job - it proposed a renewable energy reform bill that protects ratepayers while supporting state energy policy.
“Unfortunately, H.289, which had a lot of input from utilities, special interests, and their lobbyists, did not solicit policy input directly from Vermonters themselves. Nor was there any transparent consideration of the Department’s public engagement work.
“As Vermonters stare down an enormous increase in property taxes that I’ve worked to get ahead of for years, a $100 million payroll tax passed by the Legislature, a 20% increase in DMV fees, potentially thousands of dollars more a year for the Legislature’s clean heat standard, and more, the last thing Vermonters can take is the risk of another billion dollars of costs being imposed on them by this Legislature. There is clearly a more affordable and equitable alternative to H.289. We can and should do better.”