Smart Grid Award: Vermont Electric Cooperative Takes Wise Approach to Smart Grid Projects

By Dr. Gail Reitenbach

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5

Vermont Electric Cooperative System Operators Matt Anderson (foreground) and Craig Jewett monitor VEC’s smart grid. Courtesy: VEC

A cooperative in northern Vermont serving a largely rural area has proven that even small utilities can achieve great smart grid results by planning wisely. For improving service to its members by developing a grid modernization strategy before “smart grid” was a buzz phrase, Vermont Electric Cooperative is the winner of the first POWER Smart Grid Award.

Most lists of top smart grid projects focus on large metropolitan areas, the highest number of smart meters installed, or the most smart grid technologies deployed at once. But a smarter, more robust grid is just as important to small population centers and rural areas. For example, given the distances between customers in largely rural service territories, smart grid technologies can be even more important for improving service restoration times than in urban service territories. In fact, improving outage management was a primary impetus behind the smart grid plans at Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC).

VEC is a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative founded in 1938 and Vermont’s third-largest electric distribution utility. From its headquarters in Johnson, it serves approximately 35,000 member-customers in 74 towns throughout more than 2,000 square miles of rural northern Vermont (Figure 1).

1. Challenging territory. Vermont Electric Cooperative was formed as part of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936. Its rural footprint, which includes serving island customers, presents cost challenges, which is one reason it has always been eager to adopt technologies that contain costs. Courtesy: VEC

The co-op purchases power from a variety of generation sources. In 2011 the percentages are 56.76% from large hydro (some of it coming across the state’s northern border with Canada); 2.74% from small hydro; 17.51% from nuclear (Vermont Yankee); 15.64% from gas or oil; 3.60% from wind; 2.89% from wood; 0.85% from farm methane and solar; and none from coal. About 1.25% of the renewables come from customer-owned distributed generation, which is net metered.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5