General Background:
With just a couple of weeks remaining in the 2026 legislative session, there has been important progress made to help Vermonters reduce skyrocketing energy bills and continue to cut costly, planet-warming pollution. There are still steps in the legislative process, however, to ensure bills successfully advance. Below is a status report on some key cost-saving, pollution-reducing bills moving this session – where they stand and what further legislative steps are needed.
With energy costs rising dramatically, and the Trump Administration’s near-total retreat from renewable energy – now the cheapest, fastest power to deploy on the planet – it is more important than ever that Vermont steps up to cut energy costs and continue to act on climate. Below are priority bills Vermont is advancing to do that:
H.727 – Placing parameters around large-scale data center siting
Status: Passed the full House. Senate committees made changes to the bill which has now passed Senate Natural Resources (5-0) and Senate Finance (6-1). And the full Senate voted to support the bill on 2nd reading today on a 26-3 vote. It will be read a 3rd time on Tuesday and then advance to the House. The House could then concur with the Senate version, there could be a committee of conference or floor amendments could be advanced.
Description and Rationale: As data center deployment quickly ramps up nationwide – dramatically driving up energy costs and straining local water and other community resources – the Legislature is advancing a proactive bill that would put parameters around potential large-scale data center development. H.727 would apply to data centers 20 MW and larger, with the goal of ensuring these new, large-load projects avoid negative costs and consequences to Vermonters, Vermont communities, and natural resources. The bill includes provisions that would 1) protect ratepayers and the grid’s capacity to support Vermonters’ energy needs; 2) ensure data centers don’t damage Vermont’s water supplies or drive up climate and water pollution; and 3) ensure that any data center is operated with significant public oversight and transparency. This bill would put Vermont on firm footing, with leverage, to prevent the massive demand and cost spikes that have come with new data centers in other states.
H. 740 – A GHG Emissions Reporting and Data Bill
Status: Passed out of the full House without funding, passed SNRE, and the Senate vote 17-12 to advance the bill on 2nd reading today. The bill will be read a 3rd time next Tuesday and then the further House action will be needed. NOTE: This policy needs an appropriation. Senate Appropriations has place-holdered $300,000 to support the program creation and implementation.
Description and Rationale: This bill is one of the top 10 recommendations of the 2025 Climate Action Plan. It directs the Agency of Natural Resources – who supports and would implement the program – to collect the types and amounts of fossil fuels sold in the transportation, residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. Collecting this data is critical to help Vermonters reduce their energy costs and transition away from expensive, imported, and planet-warming fossil fuels. An emissions reporting program is important for municipal planning and required regional energy planning, as well as for programs, policies, and solutions that would help reduce Vermonters energy costs by enabling them to access and benefit from more efficient, renewable, and affordable energy resources.
H. 710 and S. 202– Accelerating Solar Deployment and Efficiency Savings in Vermont
States: H.710 is a “Smart Growth for Solar” bill and S.202 is a plug-in solar bill.
H.710 passed the full House and passed out of SNRE on a 5-0 vote.
S.202 has passed both the Senate and the House, and the Senate most recently passed (on a unanimous voice vote) a version that amended the House-passed version to include a backstop appliance efficiency standard measure to guard against potential federal efficiency rollbacks.
Both bills are intended to help get more solar power built in Vermont; cost effectively, efficiently and equitably. H.710 will support solar deployment on sites that already host solar and where infrastructure already exists, helping to reduce costs and minimize land use impacts. S.202 – the plug-in solar bill – would enable the deployment of very small-scale solar systems that Vermonters can host on their decks, balconies, yards or other locations. The goal is to unlock access to smaller systems to enable thousands of Vermonters who can’t afford larger, traditional rooftop or backyard systems. Learn more about portable, plug-in solar here: https://www.vpirg.org/issues/clean-energy/portable-solar-for-vermont/