Committee reviews H.278 to create statewide energy‑storage plan and siting map

Representative Kathleen James opened the March 20 committee meeting to walk members through H.278, ‘‘an act relating to a plan on energy storage development,’’ and asked staff to keep the briefing brief so the committee could reach the floor.

Ellen Jachowsky of the Office of Legislative Council told the committee the bill would add a new section to Title 38 to require a report and map, due on or before Dec. 31, 2026, that identifies where energy storage assets and flexible‑load management initiatives would best mitigate distribution and transmission reliability problems. ‘‘This is a report about a plan and a map,’’ Jachowsky said.

The bill text assigns initial tasks to Vermont’s distribution and transmission utilities to develop and submit a report and map that estimate the type and amount of energy storage and flexible‑load solutions with the ‘‘greatest potential to mitigate, resolve, or forestall distribution, grid and transmission, grid reliability, affordability, community resiliency, and sustainability issues.’’ The draft also directs the Department of Public Service (DPS) to use all relevant utility, state and regional reliability data, projected load growth, and community health indicators to inform siting and investment priorities.

The required report would include a general cost‑benefit analysis that quantifies financial and nonfinancial returns to ratepayers — including energy price arbitrage, capacity and ancillary services, and transmission and distribution asset deferral or substitution — and estimate effects on retail rates over the life of storage systems compared with non‑storage alternatives. The bill would ask utilities and DPS to identify service territories or critical buildings where storage would provide ‘‘a major enhanced reliability benefit,’’ calling out hospitals, community centers, warming shelters and emergency response facilities as examples.

The plan must be updated biannually and, according to the draft, the Department should collaborate with efficiency utilities, the Vermont Electric Power Company (VELCO), regional planning commissions, and energy and environmental organizations. The report and map would be submitted to the Public Utility Commission and, to the degree that energy security allows, to the General Assembly; the bill would also direct the Clean Energy Development Board to use the plan to guide grants for storage development in identified locations. The bill allows the Department to require confidentiality agreements for proprietary data while directing that the map be made available to relevant stakeholders.

Committee members and staff flagged an internal consistency issue in the draft: the provision begins by directing utilities to prepare the report but later puts responsibility with DPS. ‘‘It starts by asking the distribution and transmission utilities to do this, which I do think makes sense. At the end, though, it switches to DPS being in charge of the report,’’ Jachowsky said, asking the committee to consider which entity should be tasked to lead the work.

Members also noted the Clean Energy Development Board is scheduled to sunset and have its responsibilities moved to DPS in a separate process; one member observed that statutory cross‑references to the board may need updating to reflect that administrative change. Committee staff said they had heard from VELCO on the bill and plan to invite Green Mountain Power back next week for more discussion.

The committee did not take a vote on H.278 during the March 20 session. Members scheduled additional discussion and testimony in coming meetings, including invited appearances by utilities and stakeholders, to resolve drafting questions about who leads the work, confidentiality, and statutory cross‑references.

Ending: The committee left H.278 pending further review and invited additional testimony from VELCO and Green Mountain Power at future hearings; staff said they would circulate revised language addressing the utilities/DPS drafting inconsistency before the next meeting.