2015 saw an increase in solar arrays
springing up across the Vermont countryside. This was occurring as
developers and landowners became more active in seeking opportunities
to take advantage of Vermont's incentives for net metering of
renewable energy. These incentives promote Vermont's goal of
obtaining 90% of its energy needs from non-fossil fuel sources by
2050 and have been successful in creating thousands of jobs and
keeping Vermont's electricity rates the lowest in New England except
for Maine. However, the sight of large arrays along the Route 7
corridor in New Haven as well as other places has become
controversial. A letter initiated by Rutland Town and signed by more
than 140 municipalities including Charlotte requests that towns be
given more input to the Public Service Board's decision-making
process.
As a result, the Senate Judiciary
committee, chaired by Senator Chris Bray of Addison County, took up
the task of addressing this issue and, after months of testimony,
passed S.230, the Energy Development Improvement Act. For the past
month, the House Natural Resources & Energy Committee has been
reviewing S.230 and, after taking several weeks of testimony, made
some substantive changes, and voted unanimously in favor of the bill.
Every energy project requires a
Certificate of Public Good (CPG) to be issued by the Public Service
Board (PSB) before it can be constructed. Act 56 of 2015, the
Renewable Energy Standards Act, gave towns the automatic right of
intervention in CPG hearings for projects in their communities. The
PSB currently is required to give “due consideration” to the
input of testimony provided by the town. This means that the PSB
would take the testimony under advisement, but could effectively give
it less weight than it gives to the benefits of the project. This is
the situation that led people to believe their concerns were not
being heard. S.230 would now require the PSB to give “substantial
deference” to a town if the town plan meets certain standards.
“Substantial deference” means that the project would have to
align with the town plan to get PSB approval unless there is a clear
and convincing demonstration that other factors affecting the general
good of the State outweigh the limitations in the plan.
In order to get substantial deference
the town plan would have to meet certain standards in conjunction
with a regional plan. The standards would be set by the Department
of Public Service in consultation with other state agencies, Regional
Planning Commissions (RPCs), the Vermont League of Cities and Towns,
and other interested parties, and would have to address energy
conservation, efficiency, fuel-switching, and use of renewable energy
for transportation, heating, and electricity. These standards have to
be completed by November 1, 2016. Subsequently, RPCs would develop
regional plans using these standards to identify areas suitable for
various types of renewable energy generation. If the standards are
met the regional plan would be approved by the Department. A town
plan would then get approval from the RPC if the town plan adequately
addresses the same criteria with regard to identifying sites within
the town where renewable energy technologies would be suitable as
well as unsuitable. The goal is to give municipalities a role in
determining locations as opposed to blanket rejection of any
renewable energy siting. In case a town wants to move faster than
its RPC to get substantial deference, it would be able to apply
directly to the Department up until July 1, 2018, when all RPCs are
expected to have plans in place.
From the time the Lowell, Sheffield and
Georgia Mountain wind projects have been operational, complaints from
nearby residents about noise and associated health effects have
persisted. While hundreds of complaints were recorded, the vast
majority came from a few of the nearest neighbors to the projects.
During its consideration of S.230, our Committee heard the concerns
from many private citizens and audiologists regarding noise issues.
As part of the revisions to S.230, the PSB will be required to open a
docket to review the noise issue, develop standards for acceptable
noise levels, and make recommendations for methods of noise
mitigation with respect to the nearby residences. S.230 also
included provisions addressing some hydroelectric facilities and
radar-controlled lighting on wind turbines.
I welcome your thoughts and can be
reached by phone (802-233-5238) or by email
(myantachka.dfa@gmail.com).
