Utilities tell Vermont committee net‑metering is concentrated in higher‑income towns and is driving rate pressure

Summary

At a Feb. 13 House Energy & Digital Infrastructure hearing on H 07/16, Vermont utilities told lawmakers net‑metering payments exceed the measured value of exported energy and shift costs to other customers; utilities urged keeping rate-setting with the Public Utility Commission and supplied data requests for follow-up.

Montpelier — Utilities testifying before the House Energy & Digital Infrastructure committee on Feb. 13 told lawmakers that Vermont’s current net‑metering compensation creates a cost shift from customers without rooftop solar to those who have it and urged the committee to leave detailed rate decisions to the Public Utility Commission (PUC).

Dan Potter, a power‑planning analyst at Vermont Electric Cooperative, summarized VEC’s view: “The first is that net metering in VEC’s service territory is happening in the towns that we serve with the lowest energy burdens and the highest incomes.” He and other utility witnesses said that differential deployment produces cross‑subsidies and upward pressure on rates.

Why it matters: committee members and utilities framed the debate as a trade‑off between expanding rooftop solar and protecting customers who cannot install it. Utilities argued the current compensation formula pays more…

Utilities tell Vermont committee net‑metering is concentrated in higher‑income towns and is driving rate pressure

Summary

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