Creating a Sustainable Vermont
Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Electric Power Company (VELCO) will hold four public input sessions – May 1, 2, 14 and 15 – to share the findings and receive feedback on the public review draft of the 2024 Vermont Long-Range Transmission Plan. The Plan is required by law to identify where electric load growth over the next 20 years may drive the need for additional transmission line development or other alternatives in order ensure system reliability.
This is the first long-range plan since 2015 where the need for new transmission lines have been identified as necessary to meet Vermont’s expected load growth. The 2024 Vermont Long-Range Transmission Plan examines several electricity use drivers, e.g., electric vehicle adoption, instate solar energy generation, battery storage, etc., and the potential future scenarios influenced by different rates of growth for these respective energy uses, as well as evolving state energy policy.
Every three years VELCO, the designer, builder, owner and operator of Vermont's transmission system, in cooperation with ISO New England the regional grid operator, performs a detailed analysis that identifies reliability concerns and where transmission lines, and transmission line alternatives, may be used to address those concerns. VELCO collaborates with Vermont’s distribution utilities and other stakeholders to finalize the plan that then guides grid reliability investment work. The public meetings are one of several steps leading up to a finalized long-range plan.
VELCO will convene four sessions to gather input on the public review draft of the plan. The first public meeting is scheduled on May 1 at 5pm at the Delta Hotel in South Burlington. The second meeting, scheduled on May 2 at 12pm, will be conducted virtually. The third meeting is scheduled on May 14 at 12pm at the Rutland Free Library in Rutland. The final public meeting is scheduled on May 15 at 5pm as the St. Albans Town Office in St. Albans. Additionally, an online comment submission opportunity is available. For more details, to RSVP to a public meeting, and to review and comment on the plan, visit www.velco.com/vlrtp or call 802-770-6381. 
About VELCO
Vermont Electric Power Company: (VELCO) is Vermont’s statewide electric transmission provider, with our sights set on creating a sustainable Vermont through our people, assets, relationships and operating model. Formed in 1956 when local Vermont utilities established the nation’s first “transmission only” company to access clean hydro power from New York, VELCO’s system now includes: 740 miles of transmission lines, 55 substations, switching stations and terminal facilities, 13,000 acres of rights-of-way and a growing 1,500-mile fiber optic network that monitors and controls the electric system and serves as a key link for Vermonters’ high-speed data internet access. We are owned by the state’s 17 distribution utilities and a public benefit corporation. VELCO is a for-profit company with a financial structure designed to return value to our owners, their customers, and to every Vermonter. For more information please visit our website at www.velco.com.
Source: April 22, 2024 - Rutland, VT - Vermont Electric Power Company
