House refuses to accept Senate amendment to electricity-generating definition; committee of conference appointed

The House on May 27 declined to concur in a Senate amendment to House Bill 7 10, which changes how the Public Utility Commission defines electricity-generating facilities, and appointed a committee of conference to resolve differences.

The roll-call on whether to concur in the Senate proposal with an additional amendment offered by Representative Burt resulted in 42 votes in favor and 65 opposed, the clerk announced, and the House "declined to concur" in that combination of changes. The body then voted to refuse to concur in the Senate proposal of amendment and requested a committee of conference; by voice vote the motion passed and the Speaker appointed Representatives James (Manchester), Sebelia (Dover) and Kleppner (Burlington) to serve on the part of the House. The House also suspended its rules to message that action to the Senate forthwith.

The bill, H.710, replaces a Public Utility Commission (PUC) rule that treated projects sharing infrastructure (for example, access roads) as a single plant with a definition tying "single plant" status to facilities that share the same point of interconnection to the grid. The change was developed through a PUC proceeding that included public comment and a stakeholder process, according to the member from Burlington, who said the new definition was intended to avoid forcing duplicative access roads when a separate, later project is added adjacent to an existing site.

During floor debate the member from Burlington said the Senate adopted an amendment requiring a report from the Department of Public Service, but that the Department had sent a letter indicating some of the data the amendment would require are unavailable or unduly costly to collect. He described the Senate amendment as imposing "an unworkable requirement on the Department of Public Service," and asked that a committee of conference be appointed rather than concurring with the amendment.

Representative Burt, offering a further amendment, said he sought a two-year delay in implementation of sections 1 and 2 to allow additional input and give the PUC more tools to judge siting decisions. He framed the delay as a measure to protect working lands and primary agricultural soils from expanded solar siting, saying, "I'd rather see the needle being pushed toward an expansion of our working lands and an expansion of the economy associated with agriculture." The House energy committee reported the amendment unfavorable on a 7' straw poll, saying the proposed definition had been widely vetted, including by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.

The Speaker summarized the House action and directed that the House message the Senate about the appointment of the committee of conference. No formal change to H.710 was enacted on the floor; the committee will meet with Senate appointees to try to reach agreement.

Authorities cited during debate included the text of H.710 and references to the statutory framework governing clean energy in 30 V.S.A. —7802. The House record on the floor also noted that H.710 previously passed the House on Feb. 18 by a vote of 108 to 30.

Next steps: the appointed conference committee will meet with Senate conferees to attempt to resolve differences between the chambers before the bill can be finalized.