Vermont fire-safety director says DFS lacks resources to serve as authority on new energy codes

Montpelier — Michael Durocher, executive director of the Vermont Division of Fire Safety, told the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee on April 30 that the division does not have the staffing, training or funding needed to serve as the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) for enforcement of residential energy codes. The testimony came during a committee hearing taking testimony on H.181 and on proposed residential and commercial building energy standards.

Durocher said the division already oversees fire service training, urban search and rescue, hazardous-materials response, fire investigation, construction permitting across the state and licensing boards for electricians, plumbers, accessibility and elevators. “The division does not have the bandwidth or the resources to manage the energy efficiency program,” he said, citing a lack of trained employees and adequate funding.

The nut of Durocher’s concern was money and workforce. He told the committee he presented the working group last year with an estimated $1,500,000 annual budget that would be needed to staff energy-efficiency specialists in DFS’s four district offices, including salaries, benefits and equipment. That estimate did not…