MONTPELIER – The first two weeks of the 2025 legislative session are in the books. Week one was filled primarily with pomp, circumstance and for freshman such as myself, a good deal of orientation. I won’t bore the reader with the details of swearing in (though that was very special and an honor for me) and picking a seat assignment. I will say that as the only first term legislator from Lamoille County, I want to express my thanks to all the veterans who have been very helpful to me as I begin to learn the system.
The key official business we took care of was to re-elect Jill Krowinski of Burlington as our speaker of the house in a contested election with Laura Sibilia of Dover, and then to elect John Rodgers to the post of lieutenant governor. It fell upon the House and Senate to choose the lieutenant governor as neither candidate received over 50 percent of the vote. Rodgers received more overall votes from Vermonters than his opponent, and he won every town in my district, so to honor the will of the popular vote and my constituents, I cast my vote for Rodgers.
I was assigned to the Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee, which is a newly created committee spun off from the former Energy and Environment Committee. I join two other Republicans, five Democrats and one Independent on this team. We will focus on energy policy, utilities regulation, telecommunications, broadband, information technology, cyber security and other similar issues.
It promises to be an interesting debate as the fate of the controversial Clean Heat Standard falls under our purview. The committee heard our first testimony on the topic from the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which for the last 18 months has been tasked with building the regulatory framework and infrastructure necessary to implement a mandatory carbon credit surcharge on the sale of fossil home heating fuels such as oil, propane, kerosene, and natural gas.
Ed McNamara, chair of the PUC, concluded in his progress report that the Clean Heat Standard would add as much as 58 cents per gallon to the cost of heating oil in the near term, and that the complexity of the program was “not a good fit for Vermont.” Mia Watson, who chaired the Equity Advisory Group for the PUC testified that, “… many disadvantaged communities, including Vermonters of Color, low-income households, moderate income households, renters, and residents of mobile homes, face significant challenges in accessing clean heat measures in their homes. Without additional intervention from the legislature, these households will struggle to experience the benefits available under the Clean Heat Standard while bearing a disproportionate share of the costs.”
We will now have to decide whether or not to continue with full implementation of this program, to pause it, to modify it or to fully repeal it. Governor Scott vetoed the Clean Heat Standard legislation twice, successfully the first time in 2022, but he was overridden in 2023. Given its cost, regressive nature, a multitude of logistical problems with the law, and to honor promises made during my campaign, I joined 55 other representatives in cosponsoring H.16, an act relating to repealing the Affordable Heat Act.
If you have thoughts or information you would like to share with me on this or any legislative issue, my email is [email protected], or you can leave a message for me with the State House Sergent at Arms 828-2228. To follow my committee work, all materials and video links to our meetings (live and archived) can be found on the committee webpage, legislature.vermont.gov/committee/detail/2026/19.
Richard Bailey represents the residents of the Lamoille 2 District, including Belvidere, Hyde Park, Johnson and Wolcott, in the Vermont Legislature.