Committee presses for accounting after administration reallocated ARPA funds for panel-upgrade, flood and weatherization work

Committee members on Jan. 30 pressed Efficiency Vermont officials for a clearer accounting of American Rescue Plan Act dollars originally directed toward electrification and panel upgrades after the administration reallocated some of those funds to other state priorities.

Peter Wolk, managing director of Efficiency Vermont, told the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee that ARPA-funded programs intended to support panel upgrades, flood recovery and moderate-income weatherization were delayed and that the administration reclassified some federal funds as state “revenue replacement” dollars, which changed deadlines and allowed some funds to be used for other state purposes. Wolk said the administration redirected certain appropriations late in the prior year to provide matching for hazard-mitigation grant money and to respond to emergency needs from flooding.

Wolk said details remain in flux but gave the committee preliminary figures: of the original pool discussed in committee earlier, around $10.5 million is now flowing to Efficiency Vermont for panel upgrades statewide and roughly $5 million of that sum was being directed to Green Mountain Power as part of the program’s subgrantee arrangement. He said the broader ARPA package included multiple tranches—one earlier tranche already spent and later tranches repurposed for flood work and other uses.

Representative Kathleen James and other members asked for a full explanation from the Department of Public Service and the Joint Fiscal Office about which budgets the funds were initially appropriated in, how long it took to roll out grants, what amounts were redirected, and who made those decisions. James asked committee staff to schedule a future briefing that includes both Efficiency Vermont and the Department of Public Service; Wolk agreed to return and recommended including Efficiency Vermont staff who authored internal reports (Kelly Lucci) to explain data.

Wolk said the reallocation had not led to a federal reversion (no funds were returned to the federal government) but had limited the immediate use of funds for the original electrification objectives. He said a portion was prioritized to assist flood victims in the fall of 2023 and that statewide rollout of the panel-upgrade program had only recently launched. He repeated that some exact totals would be confirmed in follow-up materials.

Committee members asked for a written accounting and timetable for the ARPA dollars, including the amounts that went directly to Efficiency Vermont, the subgrantee awards (for example, the $5 million to Green Mountain Power), and the amounts that were held back or redirected by the administration. The committee also requested explanation of how the reclassification as state revenue-replacement dollars affected deadlines for obligation and how that interacts with statutory language in the original appropriations.

The committee did not take formal action at the hearing but directed staff to coordinate a deeper briefing on ARPA allocations and panel-upgrade program details in the coming weeks.