Vermont Electric Cooperative briefs Senate panel on EV uptake, load-management pilot as committee discusses EV registration fee and MBUF plans

Vermont Electric Cooperative representatives and committee staff briefed the Senate Transportation Committee on Feb. 5 on electric vehicle adoption in VEC's territory, pilot load-management work and the status of legislation and funding for EV infrastructure.

Andrea Khan, representing Vermont Electric Cooperative, told the committee that VEC serves roughly 33,000 members across about 2,000 square miles and that the cooperative tracked nearly 1,000 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in its service area. "We have almost just under 3,000 miles of line, and our service territory is about, just over 2,000 square miles. We're rural. We're spread out," Khan said. She described a $500 EV incentive offered by VEC with a $500 adder for income-qualified members and said the cooperative provides free Level 2 chargers to participants in its energy-transformation program.

Cyril ("Sorel" in the session) and other VEC staff described the cooperative's approach to managing new electric load. The presentation noted two principal concerns: rapid load growth from electrified transport (VEC projects system load could roughly double by 2040 under some scenarios) and the timing of that load, which often coincides with transmission peaks and the least-clean, most-expensive hours. VEC staff said transmission upgrades tied to EV adoption could reach on the order of $100 million without aggressive demand-shifting measures.

The cooperative described two strategies it is…