The state’s Public Utility Commission has chosen members for two advisory groups that will be key in forming the details of a potential clean heat standard, a program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions that come from heating and cooling Vermont’s buildings.
The version of the law that the Legislature passed last May — overturning a veto by Republican Gov. Phil Scott — required the state commission to draft a blueprint that would contain the details of a potential clean heat standard. The program was one of the most controversial bills of the most recent session and the session before it, when House members failed to override Scott’s first veto by a single vote.
Those who pushed back against the clean heat standard expressed concern that it could raise the price of fuel, thus impacting those who did not quickly transition to “clean heat” measures. Many clean heat measures, such as switching to electric heat pumps, come at a high upfront cost — though a number of state and federal programs are available that bring costs down. Those in favor of the bill said it would be an effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the home heating sector, which is among the highest polluting sectors in the state, and lower monthly electricity bills with more efficient systems.
Lawmakers ultimately passed a version of the bill that stated that the clean heat standard can only become a reality if lawmakers vote to approve the commission’s blueprint.
Members of the two new advisory groups — the Technical Advisory Group and the Equity Advisory Group — will assist the commission in creating that blueprint, ultimately determining what a clean heat standard would look like in Vermont. So far, opinions on the appointments vary, and environmental advocates have expressed concern that the groups are overly representative of industry.
A clean heat standard is a credit system designed to lower heating emissions by incentivizing homeowners, plumbers, fuel dealers and others to install “clean heat” measures, such as insulation, cold-climate electric heat pumps, advanced wood heat, solar hot water systems or some biofuels. The person or entity installing these systems and improvements would earn credits.
Meanwhile, a fuel dealer or other entity that brings heat-related fossil fuels into Vermont would owe the state credits. Called “obligated parties,” these entities could either offset their owed credits by installing clean heat measures, or they could pay a fee to the state, which would be used to fund clean heat measures.
Within that basic framework, many of the program’s details still need to be fleshed out. When deciding whether to approve the program, lawmakers are likely to consider its cost, which can only be determined using the Public Utility Commission’s blueprint in hand.
If lawmakers vote to approve the commission’s program, the technical group will exist in perpetuity. The law charges its members with creating a number of key elements of the program, such as determining the value of clean heat credits — credits for installing a heat pump would be worth a different amount than credits for using biofuels, for example.
The group would also need to establish a method to calculate the emissions that obligated parties would need to offset using credits.
The technical advisory group has 15 members. They include representatives from three state agencies: Melissa Bailey, director of efficiency and energy resources at the Department of Public Service; Jared Ulmer, climate and health program manager at Vermont Department of Health; and Brian Woods, environmental analyst with the Agency of Natural Resources Climate Action Office.
Other members include:
- Matt Cota, a lobbyist for the fuel industry and owner of Meadow Hill Consulting
- Luce Hillman, executive director of facilities management at the University of Vermont
- Ken Jones, senior fellow at the Energy Action Network, which analyzes Vermont’s progress towards its greenhouse gas reduction requirements
- Michelle Keller, principal at Fraktalas Energy, an energy efficiency consulting group
- William “Casey” Lamont, resource planning analyst with Burlington Electric Department
- Samuel Lehr, manager of sustainability and markets policy at the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas
- Emily Levin, senior policy advisor for the Building Electrification Initiative with the Northeast States Coordinated Air Use Management
- Emily Roscoe, project manager with Efficiency Vermont
- Floyd Vergara, senior policy advisor to Clean Fuels Alliance America, a nonprofit trade organization that advocates for clean energy
- Michael Wang, interim director of the Energy Systems and Infrastructure Analysis Division at Argonne National Laboratory
- Rick Weston, former principal at the Regulatory Assistance Project, a nongovernmental organization that works on the transition to renewable energy.
- Patrick Wood, founder and general manager of Ag Methane Advisors, LLC
The Equity Advisory Group will determine how the Public Utility Commission would smooth the state’s economic transition to a potential clean heat standard, with a particular focus on low-income and minority groups.
The group, which would dissolve upon the adoption of the clean heat standard, must advise the commission about how to best involve low income Vermonters in the process of creating a clean heat standard, assess whether customers are equitably served by the distribution of clean heat measures, and recommend programs, incentives and funding that would help address the high upfront costs of accessing clean heat measures.
The Equity Advisory Group includes:
- Melissa Bailey, director of efficiency and energy resources at the Department of Public Service
- Matt Cota, a lobbyist for the fuel industry and owner of Meadow Hill Consulting
- John Mandeville, executive director of the Central Vermont Council on Aging, representing the Vermont Association of Area Agencies on Aging
- Jen Myers, financial energy coach at the Financial Futures Program of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, “representing a community action agency with expertise in low-income weatherization and a community action agency with expertise in serving residents of manufactured homes,” the PUC’s order states
- Pike Porter, representing the interests of rental property owners
- Emily Roscoe, project manager with Efficiency Vermont
- Sriram Srinivasan, individual
- Chris Trombly, managing director of Community Development, Vermont State Housing Authority, representing renters’ interests
- Mia Watson, special programs manager of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency
- Geoff Wilcox, weatherization program manager at the Department of Children and Families’ Office of Economic Opportunity
Ben Edgerly Walsh, climate and energy program director at the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, which lobbied in favor of the clean heat standard, told VTDigger he was concerned about the level of representation from industries, including biofuels.
“When you’re looking at a group like this, which is supposed to be giving impartial technical advice, and there are multiple representatives from the fossil and biofuels industries — they really are looking out for their business’s bottom lines instead of the best interests of Vermonters,” he said. “That’s concerning.”
While there are impartial experts in the group, Walsh said he doesn’t believe the group is well-rounded.
“It feels like they have impartial experts and representatives pulling it towards combustion, and really, no one pulling away from combustion,” he said.
Matt Cota, a lobbyist for the fuel industry who has long opposed the clean heat standard, is serving on both committees. He acknowledged the commission’s appointments, announced Thursday, might include more fuel representatives than some environmentalists expected, particularly from the biofuel industry.
“I think the decision made by the PUC yesterday morning clearly states that they understand that electricity alone will not be enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the Global Warming Solutions Act. That it needs to be an all-in approach, and that includes renewable biofuels,” he said Friday.
While fuel dealers across Vermont advocated for representation on the technical advisory group, Cota said lawmakers responded by making a statutory obligation for fuel dealers to be represented on the equity advisory group, a decision for which he said he did not know the foundation.
He was pleased, however, to also be included on the technical advisory group, where he plans to give a voice to fuel dealers whose businesses will be impacted by the commission’s plan.
“My commitment is to ensure that all fuels and all services that reduce greenhouse gas emissions receive recognition and credit under a potential clean heat standard,” he said. “And if they don’t, to make it clear that that the thumb is on the scale in favor of electricity. I’m there to make sure that the thumb is off the scale, and that all fuels and all services are treated equally.”
Correction: an earlier version of this story misstated Brian Woods’ current job title.
