On Thursday March 21st, the House gave its final approval to H.289, the Renewable Energy Standard (RES) Reform bill, which would make Vermont just the 2nd state in the nation to require 100% renewable energy by 2035.
Among the bill’s requirements are a doubling of the in state purchasing requirement of new renewables under 5MW and the creation of a requirement calling for new in region renewables larger than 5MW (See table below for details).
Both of these requirements for additional new renewables are critical replacing our reliance on electricity generated by burning fossil fuels and cleaning up New England’s electric grid.
The day prior to the final vote, the House voted 99-39 in support of H.289. With four strong supporters of the bill absent, this means the bill passes the 100 vote threshold needed to over ride the expected veto by Governor Phil Scott. Importantly, several amendments from Republicans that would have weakened the bill were defeated or withdrawn by their sponsor. To see how your Representative voted, click here.
Updating Vermont’s RES has long been a REV priority- Vermont’s RES was passed in 2015 and we are the only state in New England that hasn’t updated its renewable energy purchasing requirements since then.
This bill was passed in large part because of the hard work from many coalition partners: Sierra Club, 350VT, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, Conservation Law Foundation, VNRC, VCV, and VPIRG
The bill is currently in the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee where testimony is expected to begin as early as next week.
RENEWABLE ENERGY REQUIREMENTS IN H.289
Tier 1: Renewables of any size of any age that is connected to the NE grid
Tier 2: Renewables <5MW built after 2010 located in Vermont
Tier 4: Renewables built after 2010 of any size within NE or capable of connecting to Vermont
Tier 5: Tier 4 renewables meeting new load requirements for existing 100% renewable utilities
Utility New RES Requirement* Amount of New Renewables
GMP Tier 1 100% by 2030
GMP Tier 2 20% by 2032 72MW/yr of solar, current GMP requirement is 21MW/yr
GMP Tier 4 20% by 2035** About 192MW wind power by 2032
GF Tier 1 100% by 2035
GF Tier 2 20% by 2035 25MW of wind or 55MW of solar for Tiers 2&4 combined by 2032
GF Tier 4 10% by 2035
VEC Tier 1 100% by 2030
VEC Tier 2 20% by 2032 7MW/yr of solar, current VEC requirement is 2MW/yr
VEC Tier 4 10% by 2035 About 10MW of wind or 25MW solar by 2032
Muni’s Tier 1 100% by 2035***
Muni’s Tier 2 20% by 2035 4.6MW/yr of solar by 2032, current requirement 2MW/yr
Muni’s Tier 4 10% by 2035 About 9.4MW of wind in total or 24MW of solar by 2032
BED/WEC/Swanton Tier 5 13MW of wind or 34MW of solar by 2032
2025: 50%, 2026: 75%
2027: 90%, 2028-2034: 100% until new power purchases exceed 135% of 2022 purchases, then 50% through 2034 Post 2035: 75%
* Existing RES requirement: 75% renewable by 2032 with 10% of that coming from in state Tier 2 sources
** 2032 with check back report approval
*** Municipal Electric Departments of Stowe, Hyde Park, Barton, Enosburg Falls, Hardwick, Northfield, Morrisville, Orleans, Jacksonville, Johnson, Ludlow, Lyndon