GlobalFoundries outlines GF Power utility plan, solar and battery projects to Vermont committee

GlobalFoundries' senior manager Jeffrey Cram told the Vermont House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee on Jan. 30 that the company has spun off an internal utility, GF Power, and is assembling a power portfolio that will include on-site solar, a 15-megawatt battery and other measures to meet renewable standards and control operating costs.

The presentation matters because GlobalFoundries is the state’s single largest electricity consumer and a major employer in Essex Junction. Cram said the company consumes about 340,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually and employs roughly 1,800 people in Vermont; those figures, he said, make control of energy costs central to the plant’s competitiveness and to decisions about further investment in the state.

Cram said GlobalFoundries (GF) established GF Power after the Vermont Public Utility Commission approved the utility in October 2022. GF Power began operations in February 2023 and currently operates as a direct customer of ISO New England and Vermont Gas, and under a four-year transitional power purchase agreement with Green Mountain Power that Cram said runs through September 2026. "We started operating in February of 2023," he said, and the transitional PPA with Green Mountain Power "will end in September of 2026, and we'll be fully making all of our own decisions on energy portfolio."

On energy use and cost, Cram said GlobalFoundries uses roughly the same annual electricity as the city of Burlington and that electricity can account for about half of the site’s operating costs. When asked about dollar figures, he said the company’s annual electricity bill is in the "$30 to $35 million a year range." He told lawmakers the company has reduced its annual electricity consumption from more than 500 gigawatt-hours (earlier baseline) to under roughly 350 gigawatt-hours in recent years through efficiency measures and process changes.

On-site renewable projects: Cram described two near-term solar phases already submitted to the Vermont Public Utility Commission and two additional projects in a second phase. He said the company controls almost 700 acres on its Essex Junction/Williston campus and is repurposing underused parking areas and fields for solar. Collectively, the projects in development are expected to produce about 15 to 17 megawatts of capacity and "are only gonna produce about 3% of our annual usage," Cram said, but they can supply up to 20% of daytime peak demand when operating.

Battery storage and portfolio strategy: GlobalFoundries is seeking regulatory approval for a 15-megawatt battery project developed with Light Shift Energy that would connect to the company’s switchyard and be used for renewable storage and peak load management. Cram said the project application is under review by the Public Utility Commission and that, "assuming the application goes through, we'll have that operation sometime next year or early 27." He also described efforts to assemble a mix of long-term contracts and market purchases to manage price risk as GF Power moves away from relying on Green Mountain Power for retail service.

Emissions and tier compliance: Under Vermont’s renewable energy standard tiers, Cram said GF Power plans to meet Tier 1 and Tier 2 commitments partly with on-site renewables and to pursue Tier 3 compliance with manufacturing-emissions reduction measures as an alternative to direct fossil-fuel-to-electric conversions. He said the company sees manufacturing-process emissions reductions as an efficient path to reduce overall emissions and noted the company has installed five dual-port EV chargers (10 ports) at its site for employees and authorized visitors, charging users at roughly the company’s cost of electricity.

Operational controls and market response: Committee members asked about how GF Power will manage high-priced wholesale hours and whether the plant would curtail production. Cram said the site already shuts off nonessential systems when prices spike and that the company will use portfolio protections and third-party partners to manage short-term market adjustments and sell excess generation when appropriate. On the planned battery and market arbitrage, he said the developer partner would manage day‑to‑day operations and market participation.

Natural gas and heating: Cram said the site uses natural gas under interruptible arrangements with Vermont Gas and sometimes runs backup distillate fuel. He described the site's heating and cooling system and said cogeneration is not currently viable because the manufacturing process both generates and removes heat at different times, limiting options to reuse waste heat at scale.

No formal committee action was recorded during the presentation; the session consisted of a staff briefing and committee Q&A. Committee members thanked the company for the briefing and asked follow-up questions about portfolio costs, load shape and opportunities to scale employee EV charging.

Looking ahead, Cram said GF Power will finish assembling much of its portfolio by late 2025 into third quarter 2026 and will evaluate additional on-site projects, rooftop and canopy solar and partnerships for beyond-compliance measures. "We continue to leverage the uniqueness of being a manufacturer and a utility," he said, and the company plans to pursue energy conservation and long-term contracting to manage costs while meeting statutory renewable obligations.