DPS outlines demand forecast, efficiency programs and Renewable Energy Standard compliance to House energy committee

TJ Poor, director of regulated utility planning at the Vermont Department of Public Service, told the House Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure on Feb. 4, 2025, that Vermont expects increasing electric demand as transportation and heating electrify but that efficiency programs have kept recent statewide demand relatively flat.

Why it matters: Forecasts, efficiency program budgets and Renewable Energy Standard rules determine what resources utilities buy, how much they pay, and how quickly Vermont moves toward decarbonization. Those choices affect customer rates, local clean‑energy development and the state’s greenhouse‑gas outcomes.

Poor reviewed long‑range load forecasts and said the state has been winter peaking and could become more strongly winter‑peaking under aggressive electrification scenarios unless load‑management and storage offset new winter heating demand. He said statewide peak demand has been roughly at or below 1,000 megawatts for two decades but that forecasts show growth if electrification proceeds without broader mitigation.

Efficiency programs:…