Renewable Portfolio Standards Persist Despite a Changing Political Climate

Monday, July 7, 2025

Name, Last

Lorem Ipsum Dolor

By Coral Lin, ACT’s Spring Policy Intern

Who decides what kind of energy flows through our grid? 31 states across the country— including all New England states—have designed a Renewable Energy Standard (“RES,” also known in many states as a “Renewable Portfolio Standard”) that defined their goals for a renewable energy mix that electric distribution companies must meet. Each RES is uniquely curated to local needs and capacities, in an effort to support a well-balanced electric grid and ensure that states are doing their part in moving away from fossil fuels.

And while adopting clean energy for its reliability and price predictability is reason enough for creating an RES, a well-designed RES can provide a multitude of benefits to the state and region beyond the obvious. In establishing goals for renewable energy deployment, many states add additional provisions that encourage the development of new resources and local energy production, which can create job opportunities for local workers, bring in new businesses into the state, and strengthen the local economy. 

This is the case with Vermont, which updated its RES in 2024 in recognition of its progress thus far and a desire to continue improving. 

As political pressures to lower energy prices in the state grew this past winter, Vermont’s RES faced an uncertain future due to the misinformed perception that clean energy programs are to blame for high energy prices. Throughout the session, bill H.289 sought to weaken the state’s RES by loosening up regulation on what counts towards clean energy and removing time-bound targets. 

While Vermonters were able to prevent this bill from going into law, the misguided perception that clean energy is the source of high bills persists across the region. In this article, we will set the record straight on the benefits of Renewable Energy Standards.

What is Vermont’s RES?

Vermont established the first version of its RES in 2015, with the goal of using 75% renewable energy by 2032 and at least 10% of that energy being generated in-state. In its 2024 update, the legislature increased that requirement to 100% renewable energy by 2035 and 20% in-state generation, making it the third state in the nation to set a 100% goal on such a short timeline. 

The RES seeks to achieve five core goals through its tier system: 

  1. Increasing renewable energy in the mix
  2. Encouraging distributed energy resource generation
  3. Reducing reliance on fossil fuels
  4. Incentivizing local and new energy
  5. Ensuring renewable energy drives load growth.

Benefits of Renewable Energy Standards

RES programs generate tax revenue and stabilize electricity prices by encouraging clean energy development. Vermont alone is estimated to see about $8 billion of net benefits if its solar energy makes up 20% of its energy mix by 2050, primarily from reducing the amount of fossil fuels consumed. 

Adding renewable energy sources to the grid builds resiliency that can offset the mercurial nature of fossil fuel pricing and minimize the need of using expensive energy sources during peak days and hours of the year. For example, a study from MIT found that electrifying 80% of households could reduce the combined cost of the region’s electric and gas systems by 21 to 29%.

The development of clean energy in one state has spillover effects across the region: development of renewables in Northern Maine is estimated to bring $200 million per year in economic benefit across all of New England. 

This incredible number serves as a testament to the importance of regional co-dependence experienced especially here in the New England region. A well-designed RES benefits everyone in a state and its neighbors by attracting investment to the region, providing jobs, and releasing potential bottlenecks for energy delivery or demand shortages. It is, therefore, in our collective interest to ensure every New England state is committed to encouraging access to affordable, clean energy development.

Finally, by reducing oil and gas consumption, Vermont is taking strides towards climate action and clean air. The 2024 RES is estimated to lead to reductions in greenhouse gases equal to taking 160,000-250,000 cars off the road. These actions are an important piece of the puzzle in mitigating the dire effects of climate change, such as the 2024 floods that devastated Vermont communities. 

Vermont can build a better future by embracing its RES. The growth of renewable resources that results from the RES can provide better energy affordability, local jobs, and a clean environment.

Is the RES achievable?

Vermont updated its RES in 2024 precisely because the previous version had already been a massive success – in 2019, the state exceeded its RES requirement with a 66% renewable mix statewide. Further empowering the state’s commitment, utilities are also meeting the moment, with Vermont Electric Co-Op and Green Mountain Power committed to achieving 100% renewable power by 2030.

While some argue that the RES is too ambitious or even not achievable, the benefits and opportunity are clear. The state’s efforts so far have exceeded the expectations set a decade ago, and can continue to convert the state to renewable energy steadily and safely thanks to growing market opportunities. Improving energy storage technologies are making it increasingly easier to use renewables on-demand, while falling price tags on most renewable technologies, such as solar, make them overwhelmingly the least expensive and most efficient source of energy

Vermont’s legislature passed the 2024 RES update with bipartisan support for a good reason: the decisionmakers recognized the importance and value that a Renewable Energy Standard would bring to the state.

How Vermont’s RES Compares

The RES in Vermont is specifically designed to encourage development of energy resources in-state to push back on its historical reliance on energy sources from other places. In 2020, Vermont ranked 49th in the country for the percentage of the share of its electricity generated in-state, with only 20% of its overall demand being produced within its borders. 

Furthermore, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine collectively spend $8.2 billion annually importing fossil fuels, all of which could otherwise be invested in local energy and economy. Since energy imports are crucial to the state, it remains vulnerable to extra premiums imposed by federal regulation and ebbs and flows of energy producers – both through interstate transmission and imports from Canada. 

The state is making smart moves by ensuring that new energy resources will build independence and resilience for the local economy, as well as creating jobs for development and maintenance of renewable energy facilities.

New England is home to some of the most ambitious RES and net-zero standards in the country. Rhode Island, Maine, and Vermont have all committed to a 100% renewable future in the coming decades, while the rest of the states in the region have at least 40% renewable energy commitment by 2030. This local leadership is an incredible opportunity for the states to work together to strategically maximize the benefits associated with investing in renewable energy and push forward on bold goals, not just for the sake of clean energy on its own but also for their economies at large. 

Moving Forward

We know that our region’s RES goals are achievable. What we have to ask now is what it will take to bring them to reality in the best way possible. 

States must continue to establish sector-specific goals, design incentive structures, and provide technical support for developers to accelerate the process of connecting to the grid. The capacity to make these goals a reality is there, as long as we continue pushing states in our region to commit to not only setting goals but taking tangible steps towards enabling the modernization of our grid and adoption of energy storage and renewable resources.

ACT is committed to working with our members to ensure that well-designed policies bring forward a renewable energy system that is affordable for ratepayers, drives new renewable energy resource development, and provides well-paying, reliable job opportunities across the Northeast. 

Photo Credit: Agrivoltaic Solutions

No items found.

Find out more about the latest events and emerging trends in the climate economy.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.