Vermont Pushes Customers Away from Conventional Fuels

Last week, the Vermont Legislature successfully voted to override Governor Scott’s veto of S.5, the Affordable Heat Act. Under the bill, the public utility commission will develop a clean heat standard that seeks to financially penalize the use of traditional fossil heating sources, such as propane, and transition customers to other thermal options, including heat pumps, wood stoves and renewable molecules.

Leslie Anderson, Executive Director of the Propane Gas Association of New England (PGANE), has been battling this bill for multiple legislative sessions. “PGANE is partnering with the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association to determine if there are legal remedies we wish to pursue, in light of the Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling in the Berkeley case. We are strongly disappointed in the misinformation campaign run by Vermont’s majority leadership, especially in light of the overwhelming response from Vermont citizens who expressed their concern for passage of this Act. It was a difficult advocacy fight, and we were slightly successful, as we were able to secure the inclusion of, albeit a relatively weak, call back provision into the Senate bill. In addition, two of our 10 requests were added to the House bill,” Anderson said.

“The advocacy actions among our members were intensely strong, yet we were not victorious for a second consecutive year in preventing enactment of this detrimental bill. Renewable propane is going to need to make an appearance in Vermont faster than we anticipated, and we will be advocating for renewable credits and incentives over the next two years before this Act takes effect.”

If you’re interested in materials to counter electrification efforts in your state, please visit the Fight Electrification section on NPGA’s member dashboard. For more information, contact NPGA’s Director of State Affairs, Jacob Peterson.