Benning Introduces Energy Bill
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- Created on Tuesday, 17 November 2015 18:57
- Written by Alex Paduch
LYNDONVILLE - The pristine scenery of Vermont has become home to many renewable energy projects in recent years, but some are taking a step back and looking at the larger picture.
As a state, Vermont prides itself on being a leader in renewable energy initiatives, and according to data compiled by EnergyTrends.org, the wide array of projects have made it “the most friendly state for renewable energy.”
Energy policy has been a staple of Montpelier’s legislative work, however, some have reservations about expanding the states industrial energy production further.
“My theory is that if you are going to reach your renewable energy objectives in the state of Vermont, whatever power you generate should stay here,” said Caledonia County Senator Joe Benning.
This comes after Sen. Benning introduced a bill yesterday that would limit a region in Vermont from producing more renewable energy than it can consume, in hopes to keep energy local.
“Here in the Northeast Kingdom, we have more than our share of industrial strength power plants,” said Benning. Those plants are producing more energy than we can possibly consume in the Northeast Kingdom.”
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, wind turbines, solar panels and other methods of producing renewable energy scattered across the state produce over 25% of power consumed in Vermont, but it doesn’t all stay in the Green Mountain State.
A map showing all of Vermont's renewable energy sources. Courtesy of U.S. Energy Information Administration
Most of this renewable power is sent out of state and sold through ISO New England, a nonprofit that helps maintain the power grid for Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
“To me it is absurd, because Connecticut doesn’t have to go to renewable energy because they can use renewable energy credits to offset their renewable energy goals,” argued Benning.
As he made clear, industrial power that is produced gets sold to other New England states, because Vermont has a smaller demand than other states in the region. When it comes to demand, Benning believes that if an area needs more renewable energy, it should be created close to where it will be consumed.
“The big power driver in the state is Burlington. If in fact we need more renewable energy to take care of Burlington, it should be located in Chittenden County,” said Benning.
Benning is not taking a negative stance on renewable energy, even noting that he attempted to put solar panels on his law office in Lyndon, but the position of the building was “such that it wouldn’t work.”
He, through his newly introduced bill, advocates for small energy generators around Vermont towns, such a 2,000 panel solar field that will power Lyndon Institute.
“That’s the thing we should be perusing, not blowing the top of our mountain ridgelines in order to have these industrial sized power plants,” said Benning in reference to the proposed Iberdrola wind farm on the border of Grafton and Windham.
Talks between the government and the Spanish energy company are ongoing, however the plans follow the similar model of the Sheffield Wind Farm, which include manipulating the top of the mountain ridgeline to house wind turbines.
Benning hopes his push for more local energy will pay off, and gave one more example, saying “If I had a brook running past my house and I had a way of doing some small-scale hydro-[electric power] , that’s the type of thing we should be pursuing.”
