The Vermont Senate has voted to override Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of S.5, a bill that would set up, but not implement, a clean heat standard.

The body needed a two-thirds majority to overcome Scott’s veto, and senators cleared that threshold with a 20-10 vote on Tuesday morning. The measure now returns to the House, which is scheduled to hold its own override vote Thursday. If Democratic leaders of the House are also able to summon a two-thirds majority, the bill would become law over the Republican governor’s objections.

Conor Kennedy, chief of staff to House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, said he’s confident the House also has the votes to override Scott’s veto.

Last May, when the governor vetoed a similar bill that would have established a clean heat standard, the House failed to override it by a single vote. This session, Democrats and Progressives have a larger majority in the House, controlling 109 of 150 seats.

The basic goal of S.5 is to require businesses that bring heating-related fossil fuels into the state to help fund the transition to new heating systems that pollute less.

It’s expected to significantly curb emissions that come from heating and cooling Vermont’s buildings — one of the most significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the state.

Supporters of the bill say it would reduce emissions by creating a credit marketplace in which many of the state’s fuel dealers would owe credits to offset the carbon footprint associated with fossil fuels they brought into the state. S.5 would require the state’s Public Utility Commission to design and study the impacts of a clean heat standard, then present their findings to the Legislature two years from now.

A clean heat standard would allow homeowners, plumbers, fuel dealers and others to earn credits by installing certain “clean heat” measures. Those include improving a home’s energy efficiency by adding insulation or sealing windows; installing cold-climate electric heat pumps, advanced wood heat or solar hot water systems; and using some biofuels, among other measures.

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