Over 150 businesses (and counting) throughout Vermont agree that Senate Bill 30 is an unbalanced piece of legislation that will upend decades of well-planned, statewide energy permitting, stifle jobs and restrict access to affordable, clean energy.
A letter sent to each Vermont Senator reads, “This legislation will hurt local jobs…increase energy costs for homes and businesses, and take Vermont backwards in meeting the goals of our state’s Comprehensive Energy Plan”. This bill, which was introduced as a three-year moratorium on wind, has expanded to restrict the development of solar, farm methane, and biomass, among other clean energy sources.
Businesses from numerous sectors oppose S.30, from suppliers and manufacturers such as NRG Systems, to small installers like Solar Pro and Catamount Solar. This bill not only impacts renewable energy businesses, which is evidenced by the number of non-renewable companies who have signed on in opposition to S.30, such as Pomerleau Real Estate, Ben and Jerry’s, Harrison Concrete, Demag Riggers and Crane, Patagonia and more.
The current legislation not only exempts transmission projects and oil and gas pipelines, but acts as a de facto ban on clean, local renewable energy. If S.30 is passed, “it hangs a sign on the door of Vermont saying, ‘no renewable energy jobs or projects are welcome here'”.
See below for the full letter, and list of businesses who oppose S.30.
14 March 2013
Dear Senators,
As Vermont businesses, we want you to know of our opposition to S.30, legislation that began as a three-year ban on wind power development and was amended to significantly impact all new Vermont energy generation above 500kW.
This legislation will hurt local jobs in clean tech and in associated businesses, increase energy costs for homes and businesses, and take Vermont backwards in meeting the goals of our state’s Comprehensive Energy Plan and addressing climate change. It hangs a sign on the door of Vermont saying, “no renewable energy jobs or projects welcome here.”
S. 30 up-ends the long-held principle that statewide energy siting should be assessed based on the public good. The St. Albans Messenger recently opined that by introducing additional permitting requirements, the current version of the legislation would act “effectively as any moratorium,” a point to which we agree.
This current legislation exempts transmission projects and oil and gas pipelines, while serving as a temporary de facto ban on clean distributed renewables, which produce local energy, local jobs, local economic benefits and keep our dollars in our state.
Beyond its original target of wind, S.30 was expanded to include the development of solar, farm methane, and biomass, among other clean energy sources.
Further, this legislation is out of step with Vermonters’ repeated support for local renewable energy, including wind, in scientific and non-scientific polls alike. It unwisely legislates before receiving the recommendations of the Energy Siting Commission, which has spent hundreds of hours taking testimony from Vermonters across the state and is actively working on ways to improve the permitting process for all.
Finally, this legislation will drive up the cost of energy for all Vermont homes and businesses. By making renewable energy more expensive to develop and more limited in its availability, Vermont will have a harder time meeting its existing statuary energy goals, likely increasing cost, and make Vermont more vulnerable in its dependence on out-of-state energy sources.
As a result of these concerns, the following 150+ businesses urge your opposition to this misguided legislation.
Sincerely,
Pomerleau Real Estate | Burlington |
JA MacDonald | Lyndonville |
Demag Riggers & Crane Service Inc | Williston |
HarrisonConcrete | Georgia |
JA Morrissey, Inc. | Williston |
Larkin Realty | Burlington |
Ben & Jerry’s | South Burlington |
PatagoniaBurlington | South Burlington |
Beacon Manufacturing Company | Montpelier |
GreenMountainDairy Farm | Sheldon |
Dinse Knapp McAndrew | Burlington |
Middlebury Fence | Middlebury |
MontpelierConstruction | Barre |
Mad River Rocket Corporation | Warren |
A. Cooper Mechanical | Williston |
Cross Consulting Engineers | St. Albans |
Pillsbury Manor Senior Living | South Burlington |
VermontLicensed Plumbers Association | RandolphCenter |
Burlington Electric Department | Burlington |
HB Insurance | Burlington |
MooseMountainForestry | Lowell |
Meadowsend Timberlands Ltd. | Windham/Grafton, Sheffield,Bradford |
PeaseMountainLaw, PLLC | Charlotte |
VermontRoofing | Rutland |
WashingtonElectric Co-op | East Montpelier |
Willowbend Farm | Island Pond |
AC Hathorne | Williston |
Advanced Solar Heating Systems | Rutland |
Aegis Wind | Waitsfield |
Agricultural Energy Consultants | Marshfield |
AHT Plumbing & Heating | Sharon |
AllEarth Renewables | Montpelier |
Alumni Solar | South Hero |
Ames Hill Productions | Marlboro |
Andy Robinson Consulting | Plainfield |
AOE Inc. | North Bennington |
Backspin Renewables | Middlebury |
BCK Law | Woodstock |
BD Media Inc | Montpelier |
Better World Energy | Marshfield |
Big Pine Builders/ Big Wind and Solar | ManchesterCenter |
Black RiverProduce | Chester |
BristolElectronics | Bristol |
Building Energy | Burlington |
Business Energy Action | Burlington |
Carbon Zero LLC | North Bennington |
Catamount Solar | East Montpelier,Corinth,South Royalton |
Central VermontSolar & Wind | Rutland |
ChittendenCountySolar Partners | Williston |
Church, Engle & Associates | Shelburne |
Claire Solar Partners | Burlington |
CommonGroundCenter | Starksboro |
Community Biomass Systems | Montpelier |
Cornerstone Renewables, LLC | Williston |
Cottage 10 | Hinesburg |
CRL Solar LLC | Hartford |
Cutting Edge Energy Systems | Newark |
DC Energy Innovations, INC | Burlington |
Delta Energy Group | Brattleboro |
Draker | Burlington |
E&S Electrical | Colchester |
East HavenWind Farm | Montpelier |
Ecological Energy Development LLC | Sutton |
Encore Redevelopment | Burlington |
Energy Co-op ofVermont | Colchester |
Erickson Consulting LLC | Warren |
Flint Spring Associates | Hinesburg |
Forward Thinking Consultants, LLC | Richmond |
Friends of the Sun | Manchesterctr. |
Full Sun Company | East Middlebury |
Gary MacArthur Solar | Marlboro |
GeorgiaMountainCommunity Wind | Williston |
Global Garage Sale | Winooski |
GMT Enterprises | Fayston |
GreatBayHydro | Newport,Derby,Charleston |
Green Toolbox Consulting | Warren |
Green Energy Times | Bradford |
Gringo Jack’s | ManchesterCenter |
groSolar | White RiverJunction |
Hand and Sun Solar | Manchesterctr. |
HudsonSolar | Bennington |
Independent Power LLC | Hyde Park |
Integrated Solar Applications | Brattleboro |
Integrity Energy | Bethel |
J Andrews Marketing | Westford |
Johnnie Brook Creative | Richmond |
LandWorks | Middlebury |
Larkin Family Partnership | White RiverJunction |
Lightspeed Publishing LLC | Arlington |
Lintilhac Foundation | Shelburne |
LW Seddon, LLC | Montpelier |
Maclay Architects | Waitsfield |
Main StreetLanding | Burlington |
Metruk’s Electrical Contracting | Underhill |
Miracle Energy Systems, LLC | East Montpelier |
Mischul Brownstone | Charlotte |
Nathaniel Group, Inc. | Waltham |
Nava Bio-Energy Ltd | Brookfield |
Net Zero Renewable Resources | Chester |
New Generation Partners LLC | Buel’s Gore |
NortheastKingdomWindpower | Montpelier |
Northeast Wind | WaterburyCenter |
Northern Power Systems | Barre |
Northern Reliability | Waitsfield |
NorwichTechnologies | Norwich |
NRG Systems | Hinesburg |
Nuñez Electric, LLC | Highgate |
OldCountyBuildingand Design | Waitsfield |
One Sun Vermont | South Hero |
Peck Electric Company | South Burlington |
Points North Energy, LLC | Stowe |
Positive Energy | Poultney |
Pres. Biebel Builders Inc. | Windsor |
Real Goods Solar | Montpelier |
ReissBuilding& Renovation | Hinesburg |
Renewable Energy Systems & Technologies | BridgewaterCorners |
Renewable EnergyVermont | Montpelier |
SaxtonsRiverSolar Electric | SaxtonsRiver |
Sellers & Company Architects | Warren |
SenecaMountainWind, LLC | Williston |
Sensible World | Middlebury |
Smart Resource Institute LLC | Burlington |
Solaflect Energy | Norwich |
Solar Gain LLC | Middlesex |
Solar Pro | Arlington |
Solar Source | Bennington,Rutland, Williston |
Solarwind Electric | Bradford |
Soveren, Inc. | Westminster |
SpringfieldHydroelectricCo. | Springfield |
SpringfieldSolarAlliance | N Springfield |
SpruceMountainDesign | Montpelier |
St. AlbansSolar Partners | St. Albans |
StrateQi Management Systems | Waterbury |
Suncommon | Waterbury |
Sunny Nose Solar | Springfield |
Sunward Systems LLC | Shelburne |
Sunwood Biomass | Waitsfield |
TDX Power | Waitsfield |
Thatcher Hill | Burlington |
The Design Group | Warren |
The Final Connection | Westford |
The McKernon Group | Brandon |
USASolar Store | Perkinsville |
VermontGreen Energy Systems | Middlebury |
VermontIndependent Power Producers Association | Montpelier |
VermontSolar Engineering | Burlington |
VermontSustainable Jobs Fund | Montpelier & Middlebury |
VESCO Energy | South Burlington |
Village Builders | Wolcott |
Watson Research | Fairfield |
Wiemann Lamphere Architects | Colchester |
Williamstown Solar Land LLC | Williamstown |
Winooski HydroelectricCo. | East Montpelier &Berlin |
Winooski One Partnership | Winooski & Burlington |
Wolfe Energy | Strafford |
CC:
Governor Shumlin
Lt. Governor P. Scott
Pro Tem Campbell
Speaker Smith
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