Vermont shares grid and costs with New England
Consider the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC), a line built to bring clean Canadian hydropower into the region. Years of lawsuits and political fights in Maine and New Hampshire held it up, and Massachusetts regulators estimated the delays added more than $500 million to its cost.
A power line should not cost that much in the first place (and that cost gets passed on to all of us) which is why I am concerned Attorney General Charity Clark signed a letter objecting to the newly introduced Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA).
The bill, introduced by a bipartisan group of senators, tackles our biggest clean energy bottleneck by expanding grid transmission capacity by 30%. It would end the kind of limbo that keeps efficient, cheaper clean energy stuck in gridlock and imposes clear deadlines. Challenges would need to be filed promptly and decided quickly, so a good project can’t be held hostage for years.
Independent modeling from Resources for the Future shows permitting reform will unlock a massive wave of clean energy, cutting nearly 3 billion tons of power sector carbon pollution through 2050 while saving ratepayers $350 billion. Right now, delays in building clean energy and transmission keeps legacy fossil fuel polluters online by trapping zero-emission power in administrative limbo. The resulting climate change exacerbates extreme weather, including the catastrophic floods that have devastated towns and cities in Vermont and caused millions of dollars in damage. The longer we wait to get clean energy on the grid, the longer vulnerable communities elsewhere in New England have to endure the pollution of dirty fossil fuel plants.
The bill also protects households from the growing risk of data centers, ensuring they cover the full cost of the transmission they need.
Senators Sanders and Welch both care about working families’ wallets and about climate change. I hope they vote yes on BAAJA this month and I hope Attorney General Clark gives this bill a second look.
The bill’s long-term effect is clean, low-cost power which can outcompete fossil fuels and reduce climate pollution.
Jennifer Durgin, White River Junction
Jennifer Durgin is the Vermont state coordinator for Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a nonpartisan, grassroots advocacy organization that empowers everyday people to work together on climate policy.