(a) The Department of Public Service, in conjunction with other State agencies designated by the Governor, shall prepare a State Comprehensive Energy Plan covering at least a 20-year period. The Plan shall seek to implement the State energy policy set forth in section 202a of this title, including meeting the State’s greenhouse gas emissions reductions requirements pursuant to 10 V.S.A. § 578, and shall be consistent with the relevant goals of 24 V.S.A. § 4302 and with the Vermont Climate Action Plan adopted and updated pursuant to 10 V.S.A. § 592. The State Comprehensive Energy Plan shall include:
(1) a comprehensive analysis and projections regarding the use, cost, supply, and environmental effects of all forms of energy resources used within Vermont;
(2) recommendations for State implementation actions, regulation, legislation, and other public and private action to carry out the Comprehensive Energy Plan, including recommendations for State agency energy plans under 3 V.S.A. § 2291 and transportation planning under Title 19; and
(3) recommendations for regional and municipal energy planning and standards for issuing a determination of energy compliance pursuant to 24 V.S.A. § 4352.
(b) In developing or updating the Plan’s recommendations, the Department of Public Service shall seek public comment by holding public hearings in at least five different geographic regions of the State on at least three different dates, and by providing and maintaining notice on the Department’s website for at least 21 days before the day of each hearing and providing and maintaining reasonable notice consistent with best practices for public engagement. The notice shall include an internet address where more information regarding the hearings may be viewed.
(c) The Department shall adopt the State Comprehensive Energy Plan on or before January 1, 2016 and shall readopt the Plan on or before every sixth January 15 thereafter. On adoption or readoption, the Plan shall be submitted to the General Assembly. The provisions of 2 V.S.A. § 20(d) (expiration of required reports) shall not apply to such submission.
(1) Upon adoption of the Plan, analytical portions of the Plan may be updated and published biennially.
(2) Every fourth year after the adoption or readoption of a Plan under this section, the Department shall publish the manner in which the Department will engage the public in the process of readopting the Plan under this section.
(3) The publication requirements of subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection may be met by inclusion of the subject matter in the Department’s biennial report.
(4) The Plan’s implementation recommendations shall be updated by the Department no less frequently than every six years. These recommendations shall be updated prior to the expiration of six years if the General Assembly passes a joint resolution making a request to that effect. If the Department proposes or the General Assembly requests the revision of implementation recommendations, the Department shall hold public hearings on the proposed revisions.
(d) Distribution of the Plan to members of the General Assembly shall be in accordance with the provisions of 2 V.S.A. § 20(a)-(c).
(e) The Commissioner of Public Service (Commissioner) shall file an annual report on progress in meeting the goals of the Plan. The report shall address each of the following sectors of energy consumption in the State: electricity, nonelectric fuels for thermal purposes, and transportation. In preparing the report, the Commissioner shall consult with the Secretaries of Administration, of Agriculture, Food and Markets, of Natural Resources, and of Transportation and the Commissioner of Buildings and General Services.
(1) The Commissioner shall file the report on or before January 15 of each year, commencing in 2019. The provisions of 2 V.S.A. § 20(d) shall not apply to this report.
(2) The Commissioner shall file the report with the House Committee on Environment and Energy and with the Senate Committees on Finance and on Natural Resources and Energy.
(3) For each sector, the report shall provide:
(A) In millions of British thermal units (MMBTUs) for the most recent calendar year for which data are available, the total amount of energy consumed, the amount of renewable energy consumed, and the percentage of renewable energy consumed. For the electricity sector, the report shall also state the amounts in megawatt hours (MWH) of retail sales and load for Vermont as well as for each retail electricity provider and the Vermont and New England summer and winter peak electric demand, including the hour and day of peak demand.
(B) Projections of the energy reductions and shift to renewable energy expected to occur under existing policies, technologies, and markets. The most recent available data shall be used to inform these projections and shall be provided as a supplement to the data described in subdivision (A) of this subdivision (3).
(C) Recommendations of policies to further the renewable energy requirements and goals set forth in statute and the Plan, along with an evaluation of the relative cost-effectiveness and equity-related impacts of different policy approaches.
(4) The report shall include an analysis setting forth how progress toward the goals of the Plan is supported by complementary work in avoiding or reducing energy consumption through efficiency and demand reduction. In this subdivision, “demand reduction” includes dispatchable measures, such as controlling appliances that consume energy, and nondispatchable measures, such as weatherization.
(5) The report shall include recommendations on methods to enhance the process for planning, tracking, and reporting progress toward meeting statutory energy requirements and the goals of the Plan. Such recommendations may include the consolidation of one or more periodic reports filed by the Department or other State agencies relating to renewable energy, with proposals for amending the statutes relevant to those reports.
(6) The report shall include a summary of the following information for each sector:
(A) major changes in relevant markets, technologies, and costs;
(B) average Vermont prices compared to the other New England states, based on the most recent available data; and
(C) significant Vermont and federal incentive programs that are relevant to one or more of the sectors.
(7) The report shall include the following information on progress toward meeting the Renewable Energy Standard (RES):
(A) An assessment of the costs and benefits of the RES based on the most current available data, including rate and economic impacts, customer savings, technology deployment, greenhouse gas emission reductions achieved both relative to 10 V.S.A § 578 requirements and societally, fuel price stability, effect on transmission and distribution upgrade costs, and any recommended changes based on this assessment.
(i) For the most recent calendar year for which data is available, each retail electricity provider’s retail sales and load, in MWh; required amounts of renewable energy for each category of the RES as set forth in section 8005 of this title; and amounts of renewable energy and tradeable renewable energy credits eligible to satisfy the requirements of sections 8004 and 8005 of this title actually owned by the Vermont retail electricity providers, expressed as a percentage of retail sales and total load.
(ii) The report shall summarize the energy transformation projects undertaken pursuant to section 8005 of this title, their costs and benefits, their avoided fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and, if applicable, energy savings.
(iii) The report shall summarize statewide progress toward achieving each of the categories set forth in section 8005 of this title.
(iv) The report shall assess how costs and benefits of the RES are being distributed across State, to the extent possible given available data, by retail electricity service territory, municipality, and environmental justice focus populations, as defined by 3 V.S.A. § 6002. Such an assessment shall consider metrics to monitor affordability of electric rates.
(B) Projections, looking at least 10 years ahead, of the impacts of the RES.
(i) The Department shall consider at least three scenarios based on high, mid-range, and low energy price forecasts.
(ii) The Department shall provide an opportunity for public comment on the model during its development and make the model and associated documents available on the Department’s website.
(iii) The Department shall project, for the State, the impact of the RES in each of the following areas: electric utility rates, total energy consumption, electric energy consumption, fossil fuel consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions. The report shall compare the amount or level in each of these areas with and without the program.
(C) An assessment of whether the requirements of the RES have been met to date, and any recommended changes needed to achieve those requirements.
(D) A summary of the activities of distributed renewable generation programs that support the achievement of the RES, including:
(i) Standard Offer Program under section 8005a of this title, including the number of plants participating in the Program, the prices paid by the Program, and the plant capacity and average annual energy generation of the participating plants. The report shall present this information as totals for all participating plants and by category of renewable energy technology. The report also shall identify the number of applications received, the number of participating plants under contract, and the number of participating plants actually in service.
(ii) the net metering program, including: the current pace of net metering deployment, both statewide and within the service territory of each retail electricity provider; the ownership and transfer of the environmental attributes of energy generated by net metering systems and of any associated tradeable renewable energy credits; and any other information relevant to the costs and benefits of net metering.
(8) The report shall include any recommendations for statutory change related to sections 8004, 8005, 8005a, 8010, and 8011 of this title.
(9) For the report due in 2029, the Commission shall issue a report on whether it is reasonable to expect that there will be sufficient new regional renewable resources available for a retail electricity provider with 75,000 or more customers to meet its requirement under subdivision 8005(a)(4)(B)(i)(IV) of this title at or below the alternative compliance payment rate for the new renewable generation category of section 8005 of this title during the year beginning on January 1, 2032, or during the years beginning on January 1, 2033 or January 1, 2034. The Commission shall not be required to issue this report in a contested case under 3 V.S.A. chapter 25 but shall conduct a proceeding on the issue with opportunities for participation by the retail electricity providers, Vermont Public Power Supply Authority, Renewable Energy Vermont, and other members of the public. Notwithstanding the timeline specified in subdivision (e)(1) of this section, the Commission shall file this annual report on or before December 15, 2028.
(f) During the preparation of reports under this section, the Department shall provide an opportunity for the public to submit relevant information and recommendations. (Added 1981, No. 236 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; amended 1991, No. 259 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2013, No. 91 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. Feb. 4, 2014; 2015, No. 174 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; 2017, No. 74, § 124; 2017, No. 139 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; 2019, No. 31, § 4; 2019, No. 153 (Adj. Sess.), § 8, eff. Sept. 22, 2020; 2023, No. 179 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. July 1, 2024.)