Energy in Vermont

[1] Efficiency Vermont engages in aggressive initiatives to cut residential electricity waste, which often identifies other problems (leaks, pest entry points, mold, rot) that it claims can save hundreds per household per year.

The state-owned transmission utility VELCO (Vermont Electric Power Company) has marketed this capacity for municipal broadband, WISP and commercial ISPs as backhaul.

Direct utilization of wind, water, sun and geothermal power by industrial plants and mills is now very uncommon in the state except for a few artisan or demonstration or museum projects.

In 2012 the state, VELCO and all 20 distribution utilities built (with contractor IBM) a 17-terabit-capable dark fiber optic network to all electrical substations in Vermont,[2] at a cost of about $53 million recovered from operations savings (mostly prevention of outages).

By contrast with other smart grid initiatives in Tennessee and Virginia, where universal wired fiber communication connectivity was a major goal, VELCO cited its internal "high-bandwidth, two-way communication requirements [for] synchophasors" and latency-sensitive protocols that respond to shifts in demand in under 50ms (one-twentieth of a second) to prevent problems.

[12] Vermont experts estimate that the state has the capacity to ultimately generate from 134 to 175 MW of electricity from hydro power.

[1] The state's sole investor owned utility, Green Mountain Power (GMP), serves about 80 percent of Vermont's customers.

GMP became the state's largest power company through its merger with Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS) in 2012.

The state has been aggressive in assisting persons exposed to peak pricing to identify waste and remove it, and focused on reduction of the overall energy bill rather than on reducing rates.

It was one of the customers that refused to buy imported power from Quebec until the James Bay Cree and Inuit had signed an agreement.

By 2010 these issues were considered fully settled and a comprehensive agreement between Quebec and Vermont guaranteed the latter a reliable supply of hydroelectric power via the massive HQ transmission corridor.

[18] Anti-nuclear political pressure ramped up after Three Mile Island accident, Chernobyl and especially the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011.

[citation needed] As of 2010, most of the energy was purchased wholesale for distribution from Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant and Hydro-Québec.