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Municipal utilities group urges coordination on financing, grid upgrades and shared services
Summary
Representatives of Vermont's municipal and public power utilities told the committee that municipal systems face flood damage, capital calls for transmission upgrades and rising compliance costs, and that joint action through VEPSA can lower expenses by pooling procurement, AMI deployment, GIS mapping and cybersecurity services.
VEPSA (the Vermont public power joint action agency) and several municipal utilities told the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee on Jan. 24 that local, municipally‑owned utilities face a distinct set of challenges — flood damage to small hydro assets, looming capital calls for regional transmission and rising administrative costs — and that shared services can reduce per‑utility expense.
Municipal scale and governance
Ken Nolan, representing municipal utilities and VEPSA, described four broad utility models in Vermont (investor‑owned, cooperatives, self‑managed industrial utilities and municipal public power). He said municipal utilities are often governed by local elected bodies that must balance tax, water and electric rates and that many municipal utilities still operate small hydro and other local generation.
Shared services and pooled procurement
VEPSA and municipal utility speakers said pooled procurement and shared administrative services deliver economies of scale. VEPSA runs centralized programs — procurement, tier‑3 compliance and rebates, advanced metering infrastructure deployment and a GIS mapping program — so small municipal utilities do not need in‑house specialist staff for each requirement. "We're trying very hard to put the systems in place that allow transfer of information," a VEPSA representative said, describing GIS and asset‑tracking work that reduces the risk of losing institutional knowledge.
Financing and capital pressures
Speakers said recent transmission investment needs and a large VELCO equity call are major near‑term financing issues for member utilities; VEPSA described pooling borrowing and exploring the Vermont Bond Bank as a route to lower borrowing costs. Municipal representatives also warned that flood damage to small hydro sites has reduced generation and retail sales in some towns and required emergency repairs.
Targeted load‑management approach
VEPSA said municipal members are cautious about utility control of customer devices in homes and prefer investment in grid‑scale reliability resources (utility‑scale batteries, targeted transformer upgrades) rather than wide deployment of utility‑controlled home devices; they emphasized customer choice where possible.
Ending
Municipal and joint‑action representatives asked lawmakers to recognize the distinct scale and governance of municipal utilities and to consider how state programs can leverage VEPSA's shared services to control costs while meeting renewable and resilience requirements. No legislation or PUC action was proposed at the hearing.
