Act 200, a state law, encourages local planning, and prescribes energy issues to be included. About one-third of towns have plans. Act 250, our land use law, respects local plans, and prescribes that developers use best available technology for efficient energy use or recovery. The DPS does both an electricity plan and a comprehensive energy plan, which includes policies for greenhouse gas mitigation, and follows through with ideas from these documents in both energy regulation and energy office outreach. Vermont has a solid though high-cost telecommunications network, with moderate telecommunications taxes, and there is some use of telecommunications as a substitute for transportation.
Transportation is the driving force.
Electricity use per residential consumer has declined in the 90s. Competition is affecting all energy sectors, side by side with regulation. A fractious debate about electric competition in Vermont has occupied a small group of policymakers since 1994 - consumers have not been too interested in this matter. Some legislators express mistrust that retail electric competition will benefit small consumers, and they express a desire prevent recovery of a significant amount of uneconomic power costs. There is significant agreement in the event of electric competition on a public benefits agenda, though not on the level of commitment.