Energy Action Network: Vermont spent about $3.3 billion on energy in 2023; fossil-fuel price swings hit households

Jared Duvall, executive director of Energy Action Network, told the Natural Resources & Energy Committee during a briefing that Vermont spent roughly $3.3 billion on energy in 2023 and that transportation fuels accounted for the largest share of that spending.

Duvall said the state's reliance on imported fossil fuels exposes Vermonters to volatile global commodity prices and large swings in household energy bills. "We do not produce any fossil fuels in Vermont. It's a 100% imported product," he said, adding that about "75 cents on average of every dollar that we spend on fossil fuel leaves the state." He presented data showing the statewide fossil-fuel bill rose from about $1.4 billion in 2020 to more than $2.5 billion during price spikes in 2021'22.

Why it matters: Duvall framed the numbers around household budgets and equity, saying the average Vermont household spends about $7,000 a year on energy but that lower-income households pay a far larger share of income. He highlighted that transportation is the largest cost category for households, followed by heating (thermal) and electricity, and that many low-income Vermonters remain dependent on higher-cost fuels such as fuel oil and propane.

Key findings Duvall presented included a 2023 statewide energy-spending estimate of roughly $3.3 billion, about $1.4 billion of which was for transportation (mostly gasoline for a light-duty passenger fleet of about 550,000 vehicles). He showed that, even when consumption has been relatively stable, price changes drove large changes in total spending and household exposure.

Duvall contrasted the price volatility of gasoline and heating fuels with relative price stability in electricity and some low-cost charging options for electric vehicles (EVs). He said several utilities offer EV-specific rates that lower the per-gallon-equivalent cost of driving on electricity; his slides cited examples such as Green Mountain Power and Burlington Electric Department EV rates that converted to per-gallon equivalents were substantially below the statewide residential electricity average.

On heating and electrification, Duvall presented lifecycle cost comparisons that showed higher upfront costs for heat pumps and electric vehicles can be offset over time by lower operating costs. Using Efficiency Vermont and other cited data, he showed an example where a heat-pump water heater had a lower estimated lifetime cost than a propane water heater, and an EV could save several thousand dollars in lifetime operating costs compared with a comparable gasoline vehicle. He cautioned these outcomes vary by site, utility territory and existing systems: "There are savings opportunities for a lot of electrification opportunities, but not in all cases," he said, noting some territories or specific comparisons may not yield lifetime savings.

Duvall also described policy and data sources he relied on in the presentation, including tax-department fossil-fuel sales data (collected since 2017), Efficiency Vermont analyses on energy burden and technical reference material for installed costs, and regional power-purchase sources (including imports from Quebec and New York).

Committee members asked about equity and access, especially for renters and customers without off-street parking. Duvall pointed to pilot projects such as pole-mounted curbside chargers in Burlington and said targeted solutions are needed for renters who lack home-charging options. He also noted consumer-awareness gaps, for example that per-gallon prices can be misleading because fuels differ in energy content (so a lower per-gallon price does not always mean lower cost per unit of heat).

The presentation closed with Duvall offering to return for a longer briefing and to provide additional visuals that clarify when electrification is likely to be cost-saving. Chair Trevor Watson paused the session because of time.