(a)The General Assembly finds it in the interest of the people of the State to promote the State energy policy established in section 202a of this title by:
(1)Balancing the benefits, lifetime costs, and rates of the State’s overall energy portfolio to ensure that to the greatest extent possible the economic benefits of renewable energy in the State flow to the Vermont economy in general, and to the rate-paying citizens of the State in particular.
(2)Supporting development of renewable energy that uses natural resources efficiently and related planned energy industries in Vermont, and the jobs and economic benefits associated with such development, while retaining and supporting existing renewable energy infrastructure.
(3)Providing an incentive for the State’s retail electricity provi
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(a) The General Assembly finds it in the interest of the people of the State to promote the State energy policy established in section 202a of this title by:
(1) Balancing the benefits, lifetime costs, and rates of the State’s overall energy portfolio to ensure that to the greatest extent possible the economic benefits of renewable energy in the State flow to the Vermont economy in general, and to the rate-paying citizens of the State in particular.
(2) Supporting development of renewable energy that uses natural resources efficiently and related planned energy industries in Vermont, and the jobs and economic benefits associated with such development, while retaining and supporting existing renewable energy infrastructure.
(3) Providing an incentive for the State’s retail electricity providers to enter into affordable, long-term, stably priced renewable energy contracts that mitigate market price fluctuation for Vermonters.
(4) Developing viable markets for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.
(5) Protecting and promoting air and water quality in the State and region through the displacement of those fuels, including fossil fuels, that are known to emit or discharge pollutants.
(6) Contributing to reductions in global climate change and anticipating the impacts on the State’s economy that might be caused by federal regulation designed to attain those reductions.
(7) Providing support and incentives to locate renewable energy plants of small and moderate size in a manner that is distributed across the State’s electric grid, including locating such plants in areas that will provide benefit to the operation and management of that grid through such means as reducing line losses and addressing transmission and distribution constraints.
(8) Promoting the inclusion, in Vermont’s electric supply portfolio, of renewable energy plants that are diverse in plant capacity and type of renewable energy technology.
(b) The Commission shall adopt the rules that are necessary to allow the Commission and the Department to implement and supervise programs pursuant to subchapter 1 of this chapter. (Added 2003, No. 69, § 1, eff. June 17, 2003; amended 2005, No. 61, § 1; 2011, No. 47, § 6 (eff. May 25, 2011) and § 18; 2011, No. 170 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 18, 2012; 2015, No. 56, § 21.)