Agency of Agriculture: Vermont tracks locations of licensed fuel meters and public EV chargers but not consumption

Representative Kathleen James, chair of the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee, opened a Feb. 26 hearing saying the panel was “here to give you thoughts on H 125,” and asked the Agency of Agriculture to describe what data it holds on fuel- and electricity-dispensing devices.

Steve Collier, deputy counsel for the Agency of Agriculture, told the committee the agency inspects and licenses commercial weights-and-measures devices used in sales to the public and keeps location and licensing records for those devices, but that its data do not show how much fuel or electricity is actually consumed. “We have the data. Again, it's no volume. It doesn't tell you anything about how much consumption. It's just a number,” Collier said.

The agency described three device classes relevant to the bill lawmakers are considering: retail gasoline pumps (which the agency inspects and licenses by individual meters), meters on fuel-delivery trucks (each delivery meter on a truck is licensed and inspected), and public electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE). Collier said gas-pump meters and truck meters are routinely inspected; by contrast, EVSE is a newer area for the agency and its dataset is “very incomplete.” “And then in addition, and this is a new area where we have very incomplete data and it's burgeoning, but electrical vehicle supply equipment...we also regulate that. Although that's burgeoning, it's very incomplete,” he said.

Committee members pressed staff on what the agency can provide to support H.125’s proposed data queries. Collier said the agency can supply licensing and location records from its database but not historical volume or fuel‑consumption figures. He and agency staff warned that some business registrations use a company headquarters address rather than the device location, so a tailored query would be required to get accurate device locations.

Agency staff also described limits of their EVSE work: the state has started licensing and testing level 2 chargers and added one staff position and equipment after a recent appropriation, but lacks the testing equipment and capacity for direct‑current fast chargers (level 3). Scott (weights and measures specialist, Agency of Agriculture) described the testing hardware as large and costly: “The 1 we need to get for AC or sorry. DC level 3 is more it's like this tall by this wide... Used to be on the pallet, weighs 250 pounds. And so that is at least half, if not more, than the cost of the equipment.” Committee members were given a ballpark cost for level‑3 testing equipment of about $112,000.

Staff described the agency’s consumer‑protection remit: it enforces accuracy (meters must sell by the unit of measure, e.g., gallons or kilowatt‑hours) and can require repairs, issue penalties or seek cease‑and‑desist orders when devices are out of tolerance. Collier noted that the state adopts national standards by reference: the agency enforces the NIST Handbook 44 standards as adopted in state statute to govern accuracy and methods of sale.

The committee asked for specific datasets the agency could supply for H.125. Collier and staff agreed to provide a short written list of the key datasets and how they can be queried — a focused deliverable the committee requested to avoid open‑ended or burdensome new work.

Why it matters: H.125 would rely on existing administrative data to map where Vermonters obtain motor fuels and public charging; the agency confirmed it can provide device‑level licensing and location records but not consumption volumes. The EV charging dataset is incomplete and testing capacity for fast chargers is not yet in place, which may limit the bill’s ability to use existing data to answer questions about energy volumes dispensed to vehicles.

The committee did not take formal action on H.125 at the hearing. Members signaled they will use the agency’s forthcoming bullet list to refine any legislative language that directs queries to existing data sources.