Vermont governor says no to bill requiring utilities to get all renewable energy by 2035.
Vermont’s governor vetoed a bill that would have required state utilities to source all renewable energy by 2035, saying it would be too costly for ratepayers.
Under the legislation, the largest utilities would need to meet the goal by 2030. If the bill had been enacted into law, Vermont would have become the second state with such an ambitious timeline.
“I don’t believe there is any debate that H.289 will raise Vermonters’ utility rates, likely by hundreds of millions of dollars,” Republican Gov. Phil Scott wrote in his veto message to the Legislature.
Vermont utilities are currently required to buy 75% renewable energy by 2032.
The legislature could overturn the governor’s veto when it gathers for a special session next month. The bill passed both chambers with veto-proof majorities and can circumvent the governor’s will, as long as no one changes their vote.
Senate President Pro Tem Phil Baruth, a Democrat, said in a statement that Scott and his party “are an automatic ‘no’ on any policy that will move the needle on fossil fuel dependence.”
Scott has said that Democratic-controlled Legislature is out of balance. He said on Wednesday at his weekly press conference that lawmakers sometimes focus so much on their goals that they “don’t consider the unintended consequences” and “some bills end up doing more harm than good.”
