Senate committee advances bill to refocus Efficiency Vermont on greenhouse‑gas reductions

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 4‑3 on March 21 to report out S.65, a bill that would redirect how Efficiency Vermont may spend funds collected through the electric efficiency charge, placing greenhouse‑gas reductions as the primary priority while preserving other program objectives.

Senator Mike Watson, the bill sponsor in committee, said the bill’s main purpose is to change how the Public Utility Commission and Efficiency Vermont prioritize spending. "The primary issue that we're trying to address with this is that right now, the public utility commission evaluates efficiency Vermont in a way that, means that 90% of the work, the money that they, that they have from, electric efficiency charge is used for specifically, electric consumption reduction," Watson said. "The vision of this bill is to, shift the prioritization of, what, efficiency Vermont is allowed to do with that money, to make the the primary priority greenhouse gas, reductions."

Watson told the committee current rules effectively allocate a small share of the program to greenhouse‑gas goals: "So right now, only 5% of their…