As expected, Gov. Phil Scott on Thursday vetoed a bill designed to move Vermont toward 100 percent renewable power. H.289, which enjoyed strong support in the House and Senate, would require utilities to sell only renewable electricity by 2035.

Utilities, environmental groups and many businesses supported the update to the state’s renewable energy law as a way to boost green jobs and accelerate the phaseout of fossil fuel power plants in New England.

But Scott said the bill would unnecessarily increase utility bills by “hundreds of millions of dollars” while his administration offered a “much stronger plan at a fraction of the cost.”



“It would get us to where we all want to go faster, more affordably and more equitably than H.289,” Scott wrote in his veto message.

But the bill’s supporters say that’s bogus. The plan proposed by the Department of Public Service called for increasing the state’s use of "clean" energy, which meant a greater reliance on nuclear energy, Peter Sterling, executive director of Renewable Energy Vermont, told Seven Days.

The administration's proposal would also have reduced the power rates paid to owners of rooftop solar systems, making them less attractive, Sterling noted.

“The Department of Public Service proposal simply does not rise to meet the challenge of climate change,” Sterling said.

The state’s existing renewable energy law requires utilities to get 75 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2032. In addition to moving to 100 percent renewable by 2035, utilities would also have to get 20 percent of that power from local sources, double the amount in the existing law.

Scott’s contention that the bill would cost hundreds of millions of dollars is correct, but that’s spread across the entire state over a decade. The total cost for a typical household by 2035 would be between $3.50 and $13.50 per month.

Several environmental groups issued a statement expressing dismay that Scott would try to block such a key piece of climate change legislation. They urged lawmakers to override the veto on June 17.

“Vermonters have made clear over and over again that addressing the climate crisis must be a priority, and that the status quo is simply unacceptable,” Ben Edgerly Walsh, climate and energy program director for the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, said in the release. “Unfortunately, Governor Scott once again decided to ignore the urgency of this crisis and the priorities of his constituents with this disappointing veto of H.289.”