Vermont: data centers & your electric bill
As of October 1, 2026, AI GridWatch tracks 4 data center moratoriums or pushback actions in Vermont: 3 in force, 1 expired, rejected or rescinded. The state has 5 tracked data center facilities using an estimated 0.1 TWh of electricity a year.
Everything GridWatch tracks in Vermont on one page — proposed projects, moratoriums, permits, officials, and the 2026 ballot.
Subscribe by RSS — moratorium changes and community headlines for Vermont.
As of July 2026 (3m ago) · changes over months · Source: U.S. Data Center Power Map by State — ElectricChoice.com compilation (updated July 2026; CC-BY 4.0). Underlying load research: LBNL 2024 US Data Center Energy Usage Report; rates: EIA
Facility counts vary by directory because each one draws the boundary differently — DataCenterMap lists 44 in Alabama where this table says 35, since it counts small network rooms alongside hyperscale campuses. Cite the TWh figure rather than the facility count when you can; it is the number that speaks to grid impact. Underlying load research is LBNL-2001637 (Dec 2024).
1Proposed data centers in Vermont
GridWatch is not yet tracking a named project in Vermont. That is a gap in our coverage, not evidence that nothing is proposed — most projects surface first in a zoning agenda, weeks before any reporting.
2Pushback already happening in Vermont
| Where | Level | Status | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermont (S.205) | State | Rejectedterm not documented | S.205 (Sen. Rebecca White) would have barred constructing or operating an AI data center drawing over 100 MW of new electricity until Jul 1, 2030. Introduced Jan 6, died in Senate Finance Committee with no vote (session ended May 29). Legislature passed H.727 (regulatory framework) instead but Gov. Scott vetoed May 28; override failed 83-52 | SourceOfficial read 2026-09-12 |
| Royalton | Town | Enactedexpires 2031-03-03 | Town Meeting Day vote by show of hands (154 voters) approved a five-year moratorium on construction of AI and cryptocurrency data centers. Nonbinding policy vote — Selectboard not required to enforce. Planning Commission tasked with writing into town plan. No data centers proposed or existing in Royalton. | SourceNews read 2026-09-12 |
| South Burlington | City | Enactedno end date — permanent | Planning Commission amended Land Development Regulations to ban data centers with footprint exceeding 20,000 sq ft. Facilities under 5,000 sq ft classified as general commercial and exempt. Small-scale (5,000-20,000 sq ft) permitted in mixed industrial-commercial and industrial zones only. Adopted after Gov. Scott vetoed state-level H.727. | SourceRoundup read 2026-09-12 |
| Morristown | Town | Enactedterm not documented | Selectboard unanimously approved two-year moratorium on data centers and 'high-impact uses' — businesses consuming over 10 MW, 57,600 gal/day water, or emitting over 70 dB persistent noise, or adding over 10 acres impervious surface. Exempts small data centers for administrative/operational support. Third Vermont community to pass data center restrictions. | SourceRoundup read 2026-09-12 |
As of August 2026 (2m ago) · changes weekly — re-check before citing
Illustrative rather than exhaustive — dozens of localities churn weekly, and this tracks the ones we have read a source for. **Each row carries its own provenance.** Rows showing a verification date link to the ordinance, the enacting body's own page, or a datable report of the vote, and were read on that date. Rows marked *unverified* came from bulk compilation and have not been checked against a primary source — the locality, the year, and the status may all be off. Verify one of those with the town clerk before citing it as precedent. **Expiry is derived, not asserted.** A row with a documented end date flips to *Expired* on its own once that date passes. A time-limited moratorium whose start date was never documented keeps showing as enacted — that is a known gap, not a claim that it is still in force. Moratoriums are also routinely extended, so an expiry date is the earliest it could have ended, not proof that it did.
3Every data center already built in Vermont
GridWatch does not yet track a named hyperscale campus in Vermont, but that does not mean the state has none. DataCenterMap keeps a public directory of existing facilities — street addresses included — for Vermont.
Browse the Vermont directory →
Two caveats before you cite it at a hearing: it lists facilities that already exist, so a newly proposed campus will not appear; and it counts a small network room the same as a hyperscale campus, so the facility count is not a measure of power draw or community impact.
4Your regulator
Vermont Public Utility Commission — website · file a complaint
Official state energy data: EIA Vermont electricity profile — generation, prices, and consumption from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
5Where the Vermont paper trail lives
Air & environmental permits: Vermont DEC — Air Quality & Climate Division
No searchable register. Vermont does not publish a permit database you can query. A public-records request to the agency is the only route to the file.
Grid interconnection queue: ISO New England
A routing hint only — several states are split between markets, and the serving utility is the only authority on which queue a given site is in.
These are places to look, not evidence that anything has been filed. Links were checked on 2026-08-21; search links are queries, not records.
6Your federal delegation and governor
Grades cross party — this is an issue axis, not a partisan one. A blank grade means no documented action was located, never that the official is neutral.
| Grade | Official | Documented action (sourced) | Reach them |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | Phil Scott Republican · Governor | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
| A | Bernard Sanders Independent · Senator · next on the ballot 2030 | Introduced the AI Data Center Moratorium Act (S. 4214) with Rep. Ocasio-Cortez: no new or expanded AI data centers until federal safeguards, including against higher utility costs, are in place. — Sens. Sanders & Rep. Ocasio-Cortez announce AI Data Center Moratorium Act (2026) Guardrails Introduced the AI Data Center Moratorium Act (S.4214) with Rep. Ocasio-Cortez to halt new AI data centers until federal safeguards, including against higher utility costs and community harm, are in place. sources | site · contact |
| A | Peter Welch Democratic · Senator · next on the ballot 2028 | Joined a bill to ensure Americans aren't footing the bill for big data centers. — Sen. Welch joins bill so Americans aren't footing big data-center costs (2026) Guardrails ADDITIONAL: co-signed a January 2026 letter to ISO New England asking how it will shield residential customers from data-center-driven cost increases and saying the AI industry should bear those costs. sources | site · contact |
| — | Becca Balint Democratic · Representative At-Large | No documented action on data centers located | site · contact |
Roster: regenerated by scripts/refresh_officials.py (Senate XML + congress-legislators + current governors).
Write to your senators → Your senators in detail → Full officials scorecard → Find your state legislators →
72026 U.S. Senate
Neither Vermont Senate seat is on the 2026 ballot. Your senators are still the people who vote on federal siting and tax policy — their records are in the delegation table above.
82026 U.S. House races in Vermont (1)
A documented data-center record exists in 1 of 1 districts. A candidate with no badge colour has said nothing we could locate — that is a gap in the record, not a neutral position. ★ marks an incumbent.
| District | PVI | Incumbent | Candidates |
|---|---|---|---|
| VT-AL | D+17 | Becca Balint | Becca Balint ★ Gerald Malloy Adam Ortiz |
The documented records (1 district)
VT-AL
Becca Balint (Democratic) · incumbent Consensus vote only
On the record only for voting yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act (417-3). No other data-center record located yet.
- Voted yes on H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed 417-3 (roll call 312). It directs state utility commissions to consider rate designs making data centers with 100 MW or more of peak demand at one site pay the full incremental cost of the generation and grid upgrades they require. A near-unanimous vote: shown on the record, not scored on its own. (2026-09-16 — source)
Record read 2026-09-22.
9Latest Vermont data center news
No Vermont data-center headlines in this week's national scan — local coverage often runs ahead of it.
Search live Vermont data center news → GridWatch news feed →
A data center was proposed near you?
The free toolkit walks you through it in five steps: who's really behind the LLC, what it costs your community, what to do this week, and a downloadable action pack — speech, letters, flyer, and CBA targets included.
State municipal league: Vermont League of Cities and Towns