Vermont Senate Agrees to Final State RPS

Members of Vermont’s House and Senate have agreed to what is likely to be the final version of the Legislature’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) for the state. According to Times Argus newspaper, the conference committee report is expected to be approved by the full House and Senate shortly. The bill takes several steps trying to encourage renewable power generation, efficient use of power and combined heat and electricity projects in Vermont. If, by 2012, renewable power projects and efficiency measures are not equal to the incremental load growth in power consumption in the state, or 10 percent of current electricity use – whichever is less – the renewable portfolio standard portion of the bill kicks in. The measure will require that each utility will have to have enough renewable power supply to meet its increase in load growth over the same period, or have purchased enough renewable energy credits to do so. Fossil fuels will continue to provide a portion of the power used in the state in the future, but the renewable power bill will lay the groundwork for a new power supply in Vermont, supporters of the bill said.