A popular subsidy program for renewable energy is undergoing rule changes overseen by the Public Service Board. Much of the opposition to the proposed rules concerns what are called renewable energy credits, which are legal instruments that convey title to the renewable attributes of energy from sources such as solar and wind.
The widespread sale of these credits, which are produced every time a renewable energy source creates a megawatt-hour of electricity, means that almost none of the energy consumed in Vermont qualifies as solar- or wind-generated. Most of the credits currently get sold to Massachusetts and Connecticut utilities, which use them to meet minimum requirements on the amount of renewable energy they must purchase. Academics and industry professionals say this results in Vermont’s renewable energy development satisfying other states’ energy goals, while leaving Vermont to power itself mostly from the nuclear and fossil-fuel energy supplying much of New England’s electric grid.