Vermont lawmaker urges repeal of Renewable Energy Standard, citing cost and reliability concerns

Representative Rob North told the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee on Feb. 28 that he is sponsoring H.159, a bill to repeal the state’s Renewable Energy Standard, saying the measure would address affordability, reliability and economic prosperity.

“I’m here to talk about H.159, which is a simple bill to just repeal in its entirety, the renewable energy standard, RES,” Representative Rob North said, introducing the proposal. He said the RES drives higher electric rates for Vermont and stressed three reasons for repeal: affordability, reliability and prosperity.

North cited figures he said show Vermont’s average residential electricity rate near 18.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, roughly 50 percent higher than the U.S. median, and argued the state’s subsidized rooftop solar and other RES-driven programs increase costs. He told the committee that net metering and overbuilding required to compensate for variability raise the levelized cost of wind and solar and said one-day battery storage for the state would cost about $2 billion, while a “cyclic gas turbine generator” could be installed for roughly half that cost.

“The renewable energy drives high cost. It does not lower cost. It drives cost,” North said, and argued that wind and solar are intermittent and require substantially more installed capacity — he said three times more for wind and six times more for solar — plus reliability backup and storage.

Committee members pushed back on parts of North’s presentation and asked for context for his figures. Representative Scott Campbell asked what the alternative would be, saying: “I guess I’m just wondering what is your what would be the alternative? Just keep burning fossil fuels?” North responded that he supports individual choices such as household solar for off-grid use but opposed the state-subsidized approach embedded in the RES.

Representative Graham Kleffner noted the Public Utilities Commission has estimated the RES adds a smaller share to retail prices than North suggested. Kleffner said PUC testimony put the RES effect at “about 4%” of electricity costs now and that even at a 100% RES standard the effect might be closer to 8 percent. Kleffner also ran rough per-person math on an aggregate cost figure North cited, saying the large statewide totals translate to a smaller monthly per-person amount.

Representative Laura Sebelia asked whether North had reviewed real-time supply data from ISO New England; North said he had and returned the committee to the larger point that New England states that adopted similar RES-style laws sit near the top of the national electricity price list.

North concluded by asking lawmakers to remove H.159 from the wall and repeal the RES or instead support the governor’s energy bill (H.289), a point he framed as giving the committee a policy choice.

No committee vote was taken on H.159 during the Feb. 28 appearance; the exchange was an introductory presentation and question-and-answer session.