This commentary is by Thomas Frohlich of Barre, who is affiliated with Sunrise Montpelier, a local chapter of the national climate organization.
Ongoing work by climate activists, engineers, scientists, renewable energy investors, and many other workers is transforming energy systems across the U.S. and world to meet the challenges of the climate emergency.
Here in Vermont, we need to think bigger when it comes to transforming our energy system, and we don’t need to look far to find examples of large-scale energy system transformations in Vermont’s economy. Not so long ago, in 2014, the state made history with the permanent shutdown of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power station.
After regulators and activists struggled for years and ultimately failed to shut down Vermont Yankee, then-owner Entergy closed the plant, citing steep competition from low energy prices, which at that time were falling fast due to a boom in U.S. natural gas production.
Likely due in part to obscenely low natural gas prices at that time, Vermont’s efforts to offset the loss of Yankee in the years following 2014 did not make full use of the great opportunity to implement clean energy systems.
Vermont’s reliance on natural gas would increase after 2014 and, partly due to the large absence of in-state energy production left by Yankee, Vermont’s electricity production also fell dramatically after 2014. Over its 42 years of operation, the plant generated more than 70% of all electricity produced and 35% of the electricity consumed in Vermont.
The makeup of Vermont’s energy system has completely changed since then. While the results of those changes may be mixed, large-scale changes in energy systems certainly can be achieved in Vermont over a relatively short period of time.
But just as renewable energy sources rushed in to fill the vacuum left by a decommissioned power plant, what filled that space was not completely ideal looking back.
Vermont’s current production does not come close to offsetting Yankee’s contribution, even as the relatively smaller quantity of electricity that is produced within our state comes almost entirely from renewable resources such as solar farms, wind turbines and hydroelectric dams.
Even as large-scale changes greatly depend on federal investment, Vermont’s progress has been better than most. Compared with other states, Vermont has the highest share of its workforce employed in renewable energy jobs, the largest share of renewable energy production, and the lowest pollution levels, to name just a few common measures our state excels in.
But, like most of the country, we are not modernizing fast enough.
Vermont is a paradise for many but by no means invulnerable to climate disasters. There are climate refugees, there is ecocide, and climate disasters are far from unheard of here. Increased severity and frequency of extreme weather events will continue to change the shape and size of the state’s livable land.
With nation-leading progress on climate infrastructure advancements and a history of energy transformation, Vermont is in a powerful position to advance its energy infrastructure to the point of environmental stewardship needed to manage the effects of climate change.
We can set aside the debates over nuclear power (probably not a good idea), and over the measure of success in replacing Yankee’s contribution with renewable energy sources.
Instead, we should celebrate these accomplishments, but we also must continue to push for energy advancements beyond electric vehicle subsidies and charging stations and other relatively low-impact gestures at climate action.
