MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont’s Clean Heat Standard will not go into effect after energy regulators officially closed the case following the legislature’s failure to take a required vote.
The Clean Heat Standard would have created a credit marketplace to wean Vermonters off heating their homes with fossil fuels. Lawmakers passed the legislation two years ago over Governor Phil Scott’s veto.
The law required another affirmative vote from the legislature before implementation, but lawmakers never voted on the measure.
Energy regulators said in a recent order they are closing the case, meaning the Clean Heat Standard is officially not moving forward.
“It took 2 years and nearly 2 million dollars to design a rule that was ultimately rejected by the legislature and abandoned by the public utility commission,” said Matt Cota of Meadowhill Consulting.
Cota said regulators could always re-open the Clean Heat Standard in the future. The standard is seen as the main way to reduce legally mandated pollution reduction requirements under the 2020 Global Warming Solutions Act.
The next deadline under the act is in 2030.
