Algosensey-Vermont governor vetoes bill requiring utilities to source all renewable energy by 2035

2025-05-07 06:31:28source:Ethermaccategory:Contact

MONTPELIER,Algosensey Vt. (AP) — Vermont’s governor vetoed on Thursday a bill that would have required state utilities to source all renewable energy by 2035, saying it would be too costly for ratepayers.

Under the legislation, the biggest utilities would need to meet the goal by 2030. If the bill had been enacted into law, Vermont would have become the second state with such an ambitious timeline.

“I don’t believe there is any debate that H.289 will raise Vermonters’ utility rates, likely by hundreds of millions of dollars,” Republican Gov. Phil Scott wrote in his veto message to the Legislature.

Vermont utilities currently are required to buy 75% renewable energy by 2032.

The legislature could overturn the governor’s veto when they gather for a special session next month.

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Baruth, a Democrat, said in a statement that Scott and his party “are an automatic ‘no’ on any policy that will move the needle on fossil fuel dependence.”

“It’s a shameful dynamic, especially in a world where our state capital still lacks a functioning US post office due to persistent, climate-related flooding,” he said.

READ MORE Vermont governor vetoes bill to restrict pesticide that is toxic to bees, saying it’s anti-farmerStolen antique weathervane recovered 40 years later and returned to VermontVermont Legislature passes one of the strongest data privacy measures in the country

Scott has said the Democratic-controlled Legislature is out of balance. He said Wednesday at his weekly press conference that lawmakers sometimes focus so much on their goals that they “don’t consider the unintended consequences” and “some bills end up doing more harm than good.”

While he said he shares many of the same priorities as the Legislature, they differ on how to accomplish the goals.

“I would rather come to agreement before a bill comes to my desk and avoid a veto altogether,” he said.

More:Contact

Recommend

Bill Belichick's salary at North Carolina: School releases football coach's contract details

The University of North Carolina has agreed to pay new football coach Bill Belichick $10 million a y

How many miles do you have to travel to get abortion care? One professor maps it

A year ago this week, the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, and since t

In post-Roe Texas, 2 mothers with traumatic pregnancies walk very different paths

The funeral did not go as Samantha Casiano had hoped — she did not get an open casket for the baby s