Issue Position: Developing a Sound Energy Policy

Issue Position

Vermont energy policy in recent years should be dubbed "Robin Hood in Reverse" -- it has taken from the poor and given to the rich, with the public having little say in the matter. Ratepayers, including elderly and low-income homeowners, now pay extra for electricity so that renewable power developers can enjoy the benefits of their heavily-subsidized, "sure thing" investments. Tax-exempt public interest advocacy groups, whose boards are stacked with renewable energy developers, support huge disinformation campaigns. Massive wind and solar projects are routinely forced on local communities without their consent. Meanwhile, we are selling the renewable energy credits out-of-state, thus negating any environmental impact from our projects. And to add insult to injury, the pursuit of subsidized wind power risks the permanent defacement of Vermont's pristine mountaintops.

Vermont must step back from "renewable at any price" and focus instead on what makes sense to actually protect our precious environment while not despoiling it in the process and impoverishing our citizens. We should focus on what we actually can accomplish, such as improvements in energy efficiency, conservation, promotion of local and imported hydropower, and locally-permitted, small-scale, market-competitive wind, biomass and solar. Vermont energy planners must abandon the obsession with renewable power at any environmental and financial cost, and instead promote energy options that are environmentally sound, ratepayer-friendly, and competitive for business and industry.

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