Local students and environmentalists staged a protest Tuesday night to condemn a plan to allow GlobalFoundries to become its own electric utility. The protesters say the deal would undercut Vermont’s climate goals.
The protest was held outside the GlobalFoundries operations in Essex, where the international semiconductors producer pitched Vermont lawmakers last spring on a plan to make its Essex Junction plant energy-independent.
“We’re here today because the [Gov.] Phil Scott administration is cutting a deal with GlobalFoundries that will allow them to increase their greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the amount of renewable energy they are required to purchase,” Peter Sterling, executive director of Renewable Energy Vermont, said at the protest. “And we don’t think that’s right at a time when reducing climate change should be a priority.”
The agreement was announced Sept. 17 in a public letter of intent signed by the Vermont Department of Public Service, GlobalFoundries and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.
It would allow GlobalFoundries to buy electricity from the regional wholesale market instead of from Green Mountain Power. In doing so, environmentalists like Sterling contend, the multibillion-dollar company could shirk its responsibility in helping the state reduce greenhouse gas emissions as required by the 2020 Global Warming Solutions Act.
The act stipulates Vermont’s emissions must drop 26% below 2005 levels by 2025, 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. But if GlobalFoundries is allowed to circumnavigate those requirements by becoming a self-managed company, it may not be held to those same standards, Sterling said.
“That exemption would let GlobalFoundries off the hook from purchasing renewable energy like every other utility company in Vermont would have to do,” he said. “That language is in their filing.”
Peter Walke, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, who signed the letter along with June Tierney, commissioner of the Department of Public Service, disagreed. The agreement between the state and GlobalFoundries does not actually allow the company to opt out of the Global Warming Solutions Act, he told VTDigger.
Instead, he said, it holds the company accountable for emissions reductions in the same way as other industries in the state.
“It’s very clear that, should the emissions results not occur as proposed, [the Agency of Natural Resources] reserves the right to pursue through regulatory means, just as we would with any other industry,” he said.
Elena Mihaly, vice president and director of the Conservation Law Foundation, disputed that assertion.
“GlobalFoundries initially represented to [the Agency of Natural Resources] that it could reduce its manufacturing emissions by about 29,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide. That was false,” Mihaly said. “The accurate number is 10,000 metric tons. This means that the minuscule greenhouse gas reductions that GlobalFoundries committed to in the letter of intent are — in truth — even smaller when accurate data is used.”
A statement from GlobalFoundries called the claims from people opposed to the self-managed utility “inaccurate.”
“GF is committed to combating climate change, further reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and to maintaining or lessening its greenhouse gas rates relative to electricity procurement.
Electricity accounts for approximately 50% of our annual Vermont facilities operating expenses. Managing these extensive energy costs through a self-managed utility model is critical for keeping our Vermont facility competitive with other manufacturing sites globally,” the statement said.
The company is working closely with Scott’s administration, local officials, “the University of Vermont, and other community-based partners to meet our shared goals of both protecting the environment and fostering an economic landscape in which GF is able to sustain and grow its operations in Vermont,” it said.
With more than 2,000 employees, GlobalFoundries is the state’s largest manufacturer and private employer.
Headquartered in Malta, New York, the company has said it uses 8% of Vermont’s electricity, which is more than the city of Burlington uses. Based on estimates from Renewable Energy Vermont, a clean energy advocacy organization, the company’s manufacturing processes alone contribute to 3% of Vermont’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“I think it’s fair to say that if the city of Burlington said, ‘We should be exempt from renewable energy standards,’ they’d be laughed out of the room, so I don’t understand why GlobalFoundries gets a sweetheart deal like that,” Sterling said.
“And that’s why we have to be here tonight,” he said.
Despite steady rainfall, about 30 people turned out to protest — mostly students from Montpelier High School. They chanted “GlobalFoundries, know your boundaries!” and “Hey Phil Scott, no dirty deal!”
While Sterling and Mihaly noted their legal and political motivations to protest, 17-year-old Gabe Groveman from Montpelier High School took a more personal approach.
Allowing GlobalFoundries to make this deal would be unfair not only to the planet, Groveman said, but also to the younger members of the community who have put their time and energy into seeing environmental solutions put into action.
“The lasting impact of this deal will fall onto our generation, leaving us not only to deal with the consequences of climate change but to pay for what GlobalFoundries refuses to fix,” he told the crowd in a speech at the protest.
“I’m proud to be from [Vermont],” he said. “I’m proud of the legacy that we have here of being a progressive state, but in recent years working for climate justice, I’ve been disappointed at seeing the inaction by our legislators who have been continually unwilling to put people over profit.”
Rep. Tanya Vyhovsky, D-Essex, called on other community leaders and GlobalFoundries to “do better” for the sake of the younger generations. The multibillion-dollar company could handle it, she said.
The protest was organized by high school students from Chittenden and Washington counties, Vyhovsky, Renewable Energy Vermont, Rights & Democracy, the Vermont chapter of the Sierra Club, the Vermont Public Interest Research Group and 350VT.
The Vermont Utility Commission has postponed hearings on GlobalFoundries’ petition to allow more time for commissioners to understand the issues at play and the scope of its own jurisdiction.
Emma Cotton contributed reporting to this story.
