The conflicts of interest that lead to bad laws like the “Unaffordable Heat Act”

Who's making money off this horrible bill?

Ever heard of the Energy Action Network? Probably not. Their mission statement says they are a “diverse network of over two-hundred non-profits, businesses, public agencies, and other organizations working together in a collective impact framework… to help Vermont:

Meet the requirements of the Global Warming Solutions Act….”

Coincidentally, meeting the requirements of the Global Warming Solutions Act will funnel billions of dollars into the pockets of that diverse network of non-profits, businesses, etc. So, yes, they are most definitely here to help with that process.

The Executive Director of EAN is Jared Duval. Duval is also a member of the Vermont Climate Council, the body that wrote the Climate Action Plan and recommended adoption of the Clean Heat Standard. Duval has been given more time than any other witness during testimony before the Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee on S.5, the Clean Heat Standard bill. He has appeared four times for a total of roughly three hours. For comparison, fuel dealers who traveled to Montpelier to testify because they are going to be driven out of business by this law were given six minutes each.

Also on the board of EAN is Richard Cowart, who, surprise, is also a member of the Vermont Climate Council, appointed by the Speaker of the House. Cowart is a principal at the Regulatory Assistance Project. He is widely considered to be the lead architect and author of the Clean Heat Standard. His consulting business stands to make big bucks from packaging and pushing these policies on other states. Cowart has already pocketed multiple six figures selling repackaged versions of the work he’s done at Vermont taxpayers’ expense to Massachusetts.

Moving on, Darren Springer, General Manager at Burlington Electric, is also on the EAN board. Burlington Electric stands to make a pile of money – potentially hundreds of millions -- selling “clean heat credits” to mom-and-pop fuel dealers (and their customers) just trying to survive. And what’s not to like if you’re an electric company and a law mandates the electrification of every aspect of a state’s economy? If you’re wondering why Burlington’s McNeil biomass power plant — that burns wood — is considered renewable energy under the Clean Heat Standard, well, wink wink.

Next we come to Darren Springer, general manager of the Energy Co-op of Vermont, and whaddayaknow,  member of the Vermont Climate Council from 2020-2022. Springer has made no bones about the fact that his business will rake in money from the “clean heat credit” mandates under S.5.

Then there’s Sue Minter, and would you believe it? Yup, she’s a member of the Vermont Climate Council too.

The EAN Board of Advisors features Neale Lunderville, president and CEO of Vermont Gas Systems, nicely positioned to capture many multiple millions from the sale of  “clean heat credits” should S.5 become law. Incidentally, Lunderville is also on the board of trustees for Vermont Digger, Vermont’s largest news outlet, where he serves with, Mathew Rubin, the President of Spruce Mountain Design and developer and operator of renewable energy projects; another fellow looking at tidal wave of cash should S.5 pass. So, if you’re wondering why Digger has been oddly passive in its coverage of the biggest climate change and economy shaking story of our generation, this might be a reason why.

Like Ruben, Leigh Seddon of Solar Works stands to benefit mightily from the passage of a law mandating that citizens buy more of his products, and he is also on the EAN Advisory Board, along with Representative Gabrielle Stebbins, who’s other job is with the Energy Futures Group. Energy Futures Group (EFG). EFG is a clean-energy consulting firm, and we can assume a lot of people are going to need advice from experts like this should S.5 pass – advice supplied, I’m sure, for a very reasonable fee.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. EAN is just one of several organizations like it. And then there are our elected officials themselves….

Recently we saw Representative Caleb Elder (D-Starksboro) speaking passionately in the State House about a bill he is sponsoring. “The climate crisis,” said Elder, “cannot be put in abeyance by NIMBYism. We cannot complain about the degradation of our forests, the blight of our ecosystem. … So what is this bill going to do? It’s going to force new renewable energy development in state.”

Meanwhile, Elder’s campaign website boasts, “I have enjoyed 14 years working in the Renewable Energy sector in Vermont, including solar project development for homeowners, schools, nonprofits and businesses. I currently operate Elder Energy Services, LLC as a solar sales consultant.” So… yeah….

Elder is not alone.

Minority Whip Representative Mike McCarthy (D-St. Albans), is an employee of SunCommon, the VPIRG for-profit spin off that describes itself as a “Vermont-based installer of residential solar power systems.” Their website describes McCarthy’s job being part of “SunCommon’s community and commercial solar teams, finding ways to get our larger solar projects sited and financed.” S.5 will mean a windfall for McCarthy’s employer.

Representative Kari Dolan (D-Waitsfiled), is married to Chach Curtis, the Chief Financial Officer at SunCommon.

Senator Becca White, D-Windsor, lists her current employment as a cashier at her local food co-op, but also, according to her campaign website, works “part-time doing policy consulting.” She doesn’t say who she consults for, but given her past employment includes SunCommon, Efficiency Vermont, and VPIRG, and she is currently serving on the Natural Resources & Energy Committee busy writing S.5, the Clean Heat Standard bill, one can make a confident bet on who is paying her consulting fees.

There have been many solid, common-sense arguments made in opposition to the Clean Heat Standard bill. The estimates we have so far put the increased costs to a gallon of home heating fuel between 70¢ and $4.00. This is a crushing and regressive financial burden. We know that the labor force in Vermont does not exist to do the work mandated by the law. We know that creating and managing a “clean heat credit” exchange bank is too complicated for Vermont’s bureaucracy to handle. Do our legislators not hear these arguments? Do they have cotton in their ears? No. It’s money.

• Rob Roper is a freelance writer with over twenty years experience in Vermont politics and policy