For Immediate Release
January 12, 2016

Contact: Johanna Miller (802) 223-2328 (ex. 112) jmiller@vnrc.org

VNRC Applauds Vermont’s Forward-Looking Comprehensive Energy Plan

Montpelier – Today the Public Service Department (PSD) released the final version of Vermont’s updated Comprehensive Energy Plan (CEP). The plan reaffirms Vermont’s ambitious goal of meeting 90% of the state’s energy needs – for heating, transportation and electricity – through renewable sources by 2050. The new CEP also sets interim targets and provides more guidance on how the state could achieve these needed goals.

“The era of cheap, abundant fossil fuels is ending, and this plan responds to that reality,” said Vermont Natural Resources Council’s Energy Program Director Johanna Miller. “It recommends a diverse suite of strategies – prioritizing efficiency and promoting smart deployment of in-state renewable resources, compact land use and transportation innovation – all with the goal of helping Vermonters affordably meet their energy needs.”

To meet the goal of meeting 90% of the state’s total energy needs from renewable sources by 2050, the CEP sets the following interim targets:

• Reducing total energy consumption per capita by 15% by 2025, and by more than one-third by 2050.

• Meeting 25% of the remaining energy need from renewable sources by 2025, 40% by 2035, and 90% by 2050.

• And, by 2025, meeting 10% of transportation energy, 30% of building heating and 67% of electricity from renewable sources.

The plan was informed by extensive public input, including nine public forums and hearings held across Vermont. The Department of Public Service also worked across multiple state agencies to put the plan together.

According to VNRC Executive Director Brian Shupe, “Coming on the heels of the Paris Accord on climate change, the CEP puts Vermont in a position of leadership in the inevitable transition to a clean energy economy.”