The Public Service Department will be holding a series of four public forums around the state in July to solicit Vermonters’ thoughts on how the state can meet its energy goals – and energy needs – in the coming years. The input will inform the next revision of Vermont’s long-range, Comprehensive Energy Plan. A final plan is due to the Legislature in December.
Stakeholder and expert meetings:
The PSD plans half-day meetings on each of these four topics:
- energy efficiency,
- energy supply resources,
- transportation, and
- the electric grid and utility issues.
PSD welcomes RSVP emails to [email protected] by June 12, 2015 with the subject line “meeting participant.” Each email should identify the meeting or meetings which the individual would like to attend. Meeting details follow:
Energy efficiency
June 24, 8:30am-noon
Noble Hall, VCFA, Montpelier
The session will address energy efficiency in stationary applications, including electric power, building heat, and industrial process heat. Discussion topics will include identification of market barriers, economic devlopment opportunities, program design, funding, financing, and codes and standards.
The electric grid and utility issues
June 24, 1:00pm-4:30pm
Noble Hall, VCFA, Montpelier
The session will address issues specific to the electric sector, including grid infrastructure, utility planning and regulation. Discussion topics will include advancing integrated utility planning in a context of increasing distributed energy resources, utility rate and regulatory structures, least cost infrastructure planning, and how to best take advantage of the smart grid to advance energy, environmetal, and economic objectives.
Energy supply resources
June 30, 8:30am-noon
Capitol Plaza, Montpelier
The session will address energy supply resources across all sectors, including electric, heat, and transportation. Discussions will focus on energy resources (including wind, solar, solid biomass, biofuels, biogas/digesters, natural gas, and petroleum). For each resource, discussions will identify the current state of the market, future potential, challenges/barriers, and potential strategies for best use of the resource to meet Vermont’s energy needs. (While land use for energy supply will be addressed here, the PSD expects to primarily solicit input for the CEP regarding siting for electric generation through the concurrent siting task force process required by H.40.)
Transportation
June 30, 1:00pm-4:30pm
Capitol Plaza, Montpelier
The session will address energy use in transportation, including the demand for mobility and vehicle/fuel choice. Discussion topics will include policies addressing land use/smart growth; the availability of different modes (bike, ped, transit, carpool, rail, etc.); interaction of energy policies with transportation revenue policies; electric vehicles; and liquid biofuels and other options for heavy duty transport.
“In 2011, Vermont established a widely supported goal of getting 90 percent of our energy from renewable sources by 2050. Now, we want to hear more from Vermonters on how they think we should prioritize possible pathways and tools to meet this important goal,” said Asa Hopkins, the PSD’s Director of Energy Policy and Planning.
The state plan, which was last updated in 2011, will also incorporate some of the findings of the Total Energy Study, completed by the PSD last year. One of the PSD’s goals for the updated plan is to establish nearer-term targets that balance technology constraints, cost, carbon considerations and community concerns. The PSD will also host a series of forums, soliciting further public input, when a draft is available. Those will likely take place in September and October.
“We’ve made tremendous progress in advancing our renewable energy and energy efficiency goals, while keeping energy costs stable and low, and there is still more progress to be made,” said PSD Commissioner Christopher Recchia.
The forums run from 5:30 pm to 8 pm. (Refreshments start at 5:30 and the official program starts at 6.)
Dates and locations for the regional forums include:
- · July 9 – Woodstock (Billings Farm and Museum)
- · July 16 – Middlebury (Town Hall Theater)
- · July 20 – Manchester (Manchester Community Library)
- · July 23 – St Albans (Bellows Free Academy)
The events are co-hosted by the Vermont Department of Public Service, Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission, Addison County Regional Planning Commission, Bennington Regional Commission, Northwest Regional Planning Commission, and the Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network.
Written Comments
- Written comments arewelcome at(https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/vtcepOC)by July 24, 2015.
- You may also provide comment in response to specific questions raised by the Department at(https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/vtcepFQ)by July 24, 2015. Throughout the spring and summer, the PSD is particularly interested in public input on the questions contained in this document. These questions will frame discussions at the meetings describedbelow.
Source: Vermont PSD