House committee continues markup of H.125, debates scope, data sources and agency lead for energy-transition report

The Vermont House Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure on Feb. 26 continued drafting H.125, an act requiring annual reporting on the state's clean energy transition. Committee members discussed which agency should lead the work, the report's deadline, the first report's historical scope, and which data must be mapped and tracked.

Committee chair Representative Kathleen James opened the meeting saying, "we are here to continue our discussion of H 125, an act relating to reporting on the energy transition," and asked legislative counsel to present a new draft. The committee examined a draft prepared by Legislative Counsel Ellen Zajkowski and suggested language submitted that morning by Secretary Stephen Moore.

The committee and counsel debated several structural issues. Ellen Zajkowski said the committee's draft was a strike-all amendment and explained how that differs from instance-by-instance changes. The draft proposed adding a new section to the renewable energy chapter to require the Department of Public Service, in consultation with relevant state agencies, to deliver an annual report "on or before January 15 of each year." Zajkowski said the draft currently called for the Department of Public Service (DPS) to lead the analysis.

Members questioned which agency should be responsible. The secretary's suggested language would place primary responsibility with the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR). "If she is offering to, I think, you know, that's great," Representative Laura Sebelio said when discussing Secretary Moore's proposal that ANR take the lead. Committee members agreed the Agency of Agriculture should be explicitly listed among consulting agencies.

Committee members discussed the report's content in detail. The draft lists specific data points the report should include: number and location of gas stations (and discussion whether to count pumps versus station addresses), number of heating-fuel sellers and five-year trends in delivered volume (with tax-department data cited as the likely source), number and location of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), and electric rates and whether they changed (with members asking to capture residential and EV-specific tariffs and utility enrollment in special EV/TOU rates).

Representative Sebelio urged caution on wording around affordability, saying, "I'm really against using the word affordability unless it's defined because it just means what people want it to mean." Members instead discussed requiring the report to identify "regional energy access gaps and their economic impacts," and to include graphical displays and maps "to the greatest extent possible" that, at minimum, show gas-station locations and EV charging sites so year-to-year comparisons can reveal trends.

On historic scope, the committee largely endorsed a first report that includes a five-year lookback and then an annual update that adds the prior year's data to maintain a growing trend line. Members also debated deadlines: the committee draft calls for Jan. 15 annual submissions while Secretary Moore suggested Dec. 15; members did not reach a final decision during the session.

Members acknowledged data gaps for some items, including reliable counts of renewable-energy development firms and workforce metrics; they asked Secretary Moore to clarify her sources for workforce and firm-count estimates when she appeared later in the meeting. The draft would direct state agencies that collect relevant data to provide it to the lead agency.

Next steps: the committee directed Legislative Counsel Ellen Zajkowski to prepare a revised bill draft that merges the committee's changes with Secretary Moore's suggested language; Zajkowski will post a new draft by Friday at 11 a.m. The committee planned a brief appearance by Secretary Moore at 2:30 p.m. the same day to clarify data sources and leadership, and to finalize language before a future vote.

Ending: The committee did not take a formal vote on H.125 during the session; members left the bill open for revision pending Secretary Moore's clarifications and the updated draft from Legislative Counsel.