Left Wing Logic: Nothing in Vermont Is Affordable, Why Should Energy Be?

The bizarre testimony of the Renewable Energy Vermont executive director.

Most people would say, if you’re in a hole stop digging. Not Peter Sterling, the executive director for Renewable Energy Vermont, who testified before the House Environment & Energy Committee last week posing the loopy logic that legislators shouldn’t worry about passing policies that drive up the cost of electricity because the cost of everything else is unaffordable too. What’s worse than the argument itself is that the lawmakers are apparently buying into it!

Sterling, who recently beclowned himself getting caught on a hot mic during a Climate Council meeting booking plans for a mega-carbon-emission-filled ski vacation to Chamonix, France, seemed completely oblivious to how utterly damning his opening remarks were to the very people he was presenting to. Lucky for him, they seemed just as oblivious. “The first thing I’d really like to drive home,” said Sterling, “is that electric bills are not driving the affordability crisis we have in Vermont.” He then referred to the following data:  

• Health Care: An MVP Silver plan is $831/mo or $9,972/yr plus a $9,300 annual deductible for an annual OOP max of $19,272

• Child Care: The average cost of child care for a family in Vermont is over $26,000/yr (Let’s Grow Kids)

• Rental Housing: Vermont is the 4th least affordable state for renters (Bennington Banner, 10/30/22)

• Student Loans: Vermont has the 9th highest amount of student debt at $38,071 per borrower (Vermont Business Magazine 11/25/23)

You’ve screwed everything else up! Why stop there? The reasons why every one of these ridiculously unaffordable sectors of our economy are the way they are can be traced back to policies embraced by the very lawmakers sitting around the conference table knitting their brows and nodding thoughtfully at this gibberish, in large part because they listen to – seek out, in fact -- this exact brand of gibberish to guide them through most of their decision making.

So, Sterling concludes, given how unaffordable everything is, an average Vermont electric bill of $1,400 doesn’t seem so bad. And if passing the Renewable Energy Standard makes that bill go up closer to $1,600, who’s going to notice? So go for it! It’s like saying, hey, you’re already a morbidly obese diabetic suffering from coronary artery disease, so you might as well buy and eat the box of donuts I’m trying to sell you at an inflated price. God forbid, lawmakers, you focus on actually fixing those first four bullet points.

But sticking to electricity costs, let’s not forget that Vermonters already have the ninth highest electricity rates in the country. Those responsible like to point out that we have the lowest rates in New England – and credit where credit’s due. But first, that’s like being the handsomest guy in the leper colony, and second, if that’s your positive selling point why would you actively undermine it by driving costs artificially higher. Wouldn’t it make more sense to enhance your economic advantage by locking in even lower rates than our neighboring competitors? Of course not….

Peter Sterling, REV executive director.

A savvy BTL reader shared with me a ProPublica “Non-Profit Explorer” report that shows Peter Sterling pulls down over $100,000 a year for lobbying the legislature to make your life less affordable. So, for him perhaps an extra $192 a year tacked onto his $1400 annual electric bill is no big deal. But what’s really infuriating is the fact that lawmakers listen to nitwits like this, give his opinions real weight, and follow his advice, while ignoring or avoiding the testimony of people who actually work for a living, not to mention their constituents who are screaming for relief.

That’s enough writing for today. Time to go outside and watch the sun and moon conspire to mock our increasing reliance on weather dependent energy sources.

• Rob Roper is a freelance writer with 20 years of experience in Vermont politics including three years service as chair of the Vermont Republican Party and nine years as President of the Ethan Allen Institute, Vermont’s free market think tank.

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Media Notes: Rob Roper will be on WVMT’s Morning Drive on Thursday, April 18, 7:00 am. Tune in at 620AM, 96.3FM, or streaming HERE.

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