Sen. Andrew Perchlik has seen a lot in the 26 years since he helped found Renewable Energy Vermont. He has seen renewables grow from the fringes of our energy portfolio to the cheapest, quickest new energy sources we can build today. He’s seen Vermont move from a 25% renewable energy goal to a 100% renewable energy requirement. And he’s seen the federal government under President Trump bend and break the law to cancel renewable programs and projects that would save ratepayers money in favor of supporting his friends in the coal and oil industries. This history has given the Senator a clear vision of the future, despite today’s setback, and he shared that vision for a more vibrant future built on the economic foundation of our own local renewable energy in his opening remarks at REV2026.
Sen. Perchlik eloquently contextualized the arc of the renewable transition through the words of union leader Nicholas Klien. In 1918, Klien said, “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they attack you and want to burn you, and then they build monuments to you,” a quote that is often misattributed to Gandhi as, “First you’re ignored, then laughed at, then attacked, then you win.” Perchlick’s early days at REV were during the “they ignore stage.” But the industry and its advocates persisted until they could not be ignored and were met with ridicule for their supposed naivety. The industry was undeterred and proved that local renewables could be a driver of economic development and supply a meaningful share of the state’s energy. By 2024, Vermont passed a 100% renewable energy standard, and renewables were on the verge of victory only to be undercut by a hostile, corrupt President. But while renewables are now under attack, Perchlik sees the renewable monuments on the horizon:
“[W]e will win because the renewable energy industry, the renewable energy advocates, and those that care about a stable climate and an environment that can sustain life are not giving up; we are not questioning our commitment to a renewable future and are very much working for the day when monuments will be built: these monuments will be more solar panels on roofs and fallow fields, towering turbines catching the wind on our hills and seas, spinning hydro turbines, net-zero super-efficient buildings and homes and big beautiful wood boilers.”