Battles Over Biofuels and Clean Heat
In Vermont, development of a Clean Heat Standard is stirring some confusion and concern. Gov. Phil Scott called the projected costs of the state’s CHS “alarming” as he updated Vermonters on the costs and barriers to implementing the Standard. Scott spoke in a press conference on Sept. 12, and the transcript was published online as “Governor Scott’s Blog.”
The Fuel Line, the newsletter of the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association, reported on one possible repercussion of the CHS under this headline: “Hundreds of Vermont Small Businesses Put on Notice… Register by Halloween or Face a Potential $10k Fine.”
As part of the Vermont Public Utility Commission’s development of the CHS, the newsletter noted, fuel dealers operating in Vermont were required to register on January 31, 2024, “and report all gallons sold the prior year. However, nearly nine months after the original deadline, it is clear that the list is far from complete.” The PUC granted an extension to October 31, 2024, the newsletter reported.
In California
California has often been a leading actor in environmental regulation, “setting the pace,” one might say, for some other states, the nation, and sometimes even exercising influence internationally. That’s why regulatory developments in California bear watching: actions by regulators there can be a sign of what might come to pass elsewhere.
“A proposed cap on soy- and canola-based biodiesel and renewable diesel could raise prices of fuel and goods for California consumers and set back decarbonization efforts by years,” Clean Fuels Alliance America and the California Advanced Biofuels Alliance (CABA) said recently in comments submitted to the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
“The recently proposed amendments to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) would put a 20% cap on credits for vegetable-oil-based fuel, without sufficient scientific evidence to support such limitations,” the groups said in a statement.
Clean Fuels Director of State Regulatory Affairs Cory-Ann Wind stated, “Substantially constraining the lowest-cost feedstocks for these petroleum diesel replacements can raise the price of diesel fuel, increasing consumer prices of both the fuel and goods transported by trucking.”
Clean Fuels Alliance America represents the biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel supply chain, including producers, feedstock suppliers and fuel distributors. It receives funding from private companies and associations, including the United Soybean Board and state checkoff organizations.
In Connecticut
Contractors in Connecticut have been notified that, as of December 31, 2024, their loans under the “Energize CT Heating Loan” program will not be renewed, reported the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association in its newsletter to members. The program (https://ctheatloan.com/) offers low-interest loans for Energy Star oil and gas-fired boilers, furnaces, and heat pumps. “CEMA is working to determine why this popular program is being discontinued,” it said.
