What the Affordable Heat Act does and doesn’t do

We are now spending more time on the House floor in full session, hearing reports and voting on bills recommended by the committees that worked on them.

The Affordable Heat Act, S.5, which passed the Senate on March 3, has been referred to the House Committee on Environment and Energy that I serve on. This week, we will get our first testimony on the bill. Although there are differences, this bill would in many ways do what the vetoed Clean Heat Standard bill of 2021 would have done.

As I’ve said before, some misinformation about S.5 has unfortunately been circulated. I have been contacted by constituents and other Vermonters who are worried about how the bill would affect them. The scare tactics these Vermonters are responding to trouble me, especially when targeted at energy issues I have experience with in my own work background, and which I have worked on in my time as a legislator. In my responses, I reassure people that while there may be minor impact, the bill will not increase their fossil fuel bills by 70 cents per gallon or more, and that what has caused fuel prices to jump by $1 or $2 per gallon in the last two years is due to global market forces, world events and other factors beyond Vermont’s borders.

S.5 would help Vermonters shift, over time, to lower and more stably priced ways of heating based on their individual situations, such as heat pumps and wood pellets. It would help Vermonters weatherize and use less energy, whatever their heat source. It would encourage Vermont’s fuel suppliers to diversify business models, as some already have, and offer cleaner heating options to Vermonters as well. The bill does not force anyone to change how they heat their home but will help them choose cleaner options when the time is right for them — as I did when I had to replace a boiler last year.

Feel free to contact me at apatt@leg.state.vt.us or leave a message at the sergeant at arms office at 802-828-2228. To track any bills, agendas and written testimony for all House and Senate committees, or to view all House and Senate sessions or committee hearings either live or recorded, visit legislature.vermont.gov. 

Avram Patt, a Democrat from Worcester, also represents Morristown, Elmore, Woodbury and Stowe in the Vermont House.