Letters to the Editor: May 15

Clarification of article about town garage solar power

To the Editor:

Kudos to the Charlotte Energy Committee and the Charlotte Selectboard for their forward-thinking work on the town garage solar array. Seeing this project to fruition required dedication, research and extensive planning, as well as an engaged town government and populace. SunCommon was excited to have been a part of this collaboration with the town and the Municipal Bond Bank. As the solar project consultant for the garage array, I would like to clarify a couple of points raised in an article in the May 1 issue of The Charlotte News, “Trip to Montpelier highlighting town’s energy conservation work.”

Unfortunately, the regulation the town garage array was permitted under is no longer available in Vermont. Due to changes in our state’s net metering rules, projects permitted after August 31, 2024, may not group net meter, i.e. share credits, with accounts that are not adjoined parcels. Thanks to the Public Utility Commission, if another town wants to install a solar array, they can only share excess credits with a building that is next door or directly across the street from the host account. This is an unfortunate rule change that flies in the face of Vermont’s energy goals.

I would also like to clarify Wolfger Schneider’s comment that the garage array produces 60-70 percent of the energy that a south-facing array would produce. Advances in solar technology, namely DC optimizers and highly efficient solar modules, limit the losses of east/west siting. The 129 kW array is expected to produce about 131,000 kWh annually, while a south-facing array of the same size would be expected to produce about 143,000 kWh, a gain of less than 10 percent. Reputable installers would not consider installing an array with anticipated losses of 30-40 percent due to siting.

If Charlotters have any questions about current net metering policy, the town garage array or solar in general, I am always happy to talk solar and can be reached by email.

Carrie Fenn
Charlotte
(Carrie Fenn is a solar project consultant with SunCommon.)

Vermont leaders step up to protect environment & democracy

To the Editor:

It has become clear that the Trump administration will be unrelenting in its assault on our right to breathe clean air, drink clean water and leave a livable planet for our children and grandchildren. That is why the Vermont Natural Resources Council and allies gathered on Earth Day with statewide elected leaders to speak up and out for the future of our planet.

Earth Day is an annual day of activism which began back in 1970, and was the result of a time in U.S. history when rivers caught fire, air pollution choked cities and events like the devastating Santa Barbara oil spill made frequent headline appearances. The first Earth Day was bipartisan and broadly popular, and brought out an estimated 20 million Americans — 10 percent of the country’s population at the time. Since then, we have been working tirelessly to improve the health of our communities with better regulation of pollution, and the transition to cleaner technologies such as renewable energy.

Now in 2025, more than 50 years after the inaugural Earth Day, we have a federal administration that is looking to bring us back to the days where corporations could pollute unchecked to maximize their profits at the expense of healthy communities.

Recent Trump administration actions include:

• At a time when clean energy is the cheapest, fastest source of electricity to bring online, and while families and businesses are struggling with energy costs, the Trump administration is doing everything they can to ban cheaper clean energy and instead double down on old-fashioned, expensive and polluting technologies like coal.
• Rolling back regulations on toxic air and water pollution, including a recent announcement that they were cutting grants to protect children from toxic chemicals. 
• Closing all environmental justice offices around the country, leaving our most vulnerable communities to face increased exposure to dangerous contamination.
• Decimating staff at federal agencies who work to ensure clean air, clean water, the safety of our food, the operations of our national parks, healthy national forests and wildlife populations, and on and on. The result? Even those protections that don’t get gutted will not have the staffing or expertise needed to ensure our laws are actually being enforced.
• Weaponizing the government by making baseless attacks on civic institutions that the Trump administration doesn’t agree with. And they are threatening our democratic institutions, which underpin our ability to work together for a healthy environment for all.

Meanwhile, at the state level, during a time when we should be shoring up our environmental laws, the Scott administration is primarily proposing bills to weaken state laws like the Global Warming Solutions Act and Renewable Energy Standard. While these attacks on our health, communities and institutions are daunting, we know that Vermonters care deeply about our environment, and there is a lot we can do to fight back. 

We are fortunate to have courageous statewide leaders who are stepping up to today’s challenges. 

Attorney General Charity Clark has sued the Trump Administration 10 times and joined 19 other “friend of the court” briefs to defend Vermonters’ environment and human rights through the courts. 

Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas is working to defend our democracy from attacks like the SAVE Act, a dangerous piece of legislation that would create barriers to vote and is anticipated to cost many people money to simply maintain access to the ballot. 

Treasurer Mike Pieciak is working to invest in solutions to help make our communities more resilient. With federal funding at risk, these investments — and state laws like the Climate Superfund to hold Big Oil accountable — are more important than ever.

Vermont House Speaker Jill Krowinksi and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Baruth helped spearhead enactment of strong environmental laws in recent years, and are working to defend and protect this important progress.

The actions these state leaders are taking is admirable and critical, but they will only be able to win these fights if they are supported by Vermonters making their voices heard. Fortunately, many people are already stepping up: they’re taking to the streets to protest, they’re calling their elected officials, they’re writing letters to their local papers and in online forums, they’re donating to groups fighting these attacks, and they’re weighing in with state lawmakers to defend state laws that provide a backstop to federal rollbacks.

The Vermont we love is worth fighting for, and we are excited to see so many statewide leaders and community members rallying together to stand up against the attacks on so many things we care deeply about, from a clean environment to a healthy democracy and fundamental human rights. We won’t back down from our efforts to ensure Vermont protects and defends our shared future on Earth Day and beyond.

Lauren Hierl
Montpelier
(Lauren Hierl is the executive director of the Vermont Natural Resources Council.)