The Vermont Public Utility Commission has released a report documenting more than $151 million in residential energy-program spending described as providing "environmental benefits" to Vermonters.

The January 2026 document, formally titled the Environmental Benefits Spending Report, was prepared under Vermont's Environmental Justice law. The law requires covered state agencies to review recent investments, identify where environmental benefits were delivered and determine whether environmental justice populations received a proportionate share.

The report provides detailed spending totals. It does not, however, provide a consolidated accounting of where the money originated or calculate how much the programs reduced participating households' actual energy bills.

Records cited by the Commission show that much of the reported spending was financed through charges paid by utility customers, costs embedded in electric rates, regional energy-market proceeds and direct contributions from participating customers.

$151.3 Million Classified as Residential Benefit Spending

The Commission reported two major categories of spending.

Electric utilities distributed approximately $41.1 million in residential incentives through Renewable Energy Standard Tier III programs from 2022 through 2024. Those programs subsidized measures such as heat pumps, electric vehicles, water heaters, charging equipment and other projects intended to reduce fossil-fuel consumption.

Residential energy-efficiency programs administered by Efficiency Vermont, Burlington Electric Department and Vermont Gas Systems spent another $110.2 million between 2021 and 2024.

Together, the two categories totaled approximately $151.3 million.

About $38.2 million, or 25% of the total, was identified as spending directed specifically toward customers with low income. The remaining approximately $113.1 million was general residential spending.

The Commission said the programs provide environmental benefits to all utility customers by reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Direct participants may also receive incentives covering part β€” or occasionally all β€” of the cost of equipment or weatherization.

The report did not identify the geographic location of recipients. The Commission acknowledged that it lacks data showing where the investments went at the municipal or census-block level.

Utility Customers Supplied Much of the Money

Although the Environmental Benefits Spending Report focuses on expenditures, the underlying reports identify several funding sources.

Efficiency Vermont's electric-efficiency work is supported by Vermont electric ratepayers. The organization states directly that its work is "enabled by the support of Vermont electric ratepayers."

Burlington Electric provides an even more explicit description. Its 2024 annual report says Burlington customers have paid a monthly charge supporting Energy Efficiency Utility programs since 2003. Statewide, that charge appears on utility bills as the Energy Efficiency Charge.

The PUC's separate 2025 Energy Cost-Stabilization Study explains that Tier III costs are handled differently. Instead of appearing as a separate charge, Tier III program costs are embedded in the electric rates paid by customers.

That distinction changes how the charge appears, but not who ultimately pays it: electric utilities recover the program costs through customer rates.

The Commission has also opened a proceeding to improve coordination between efficiency programs and Tier III programs so that, in its words, "ratepayer dollars are used as effectively as possible."

Other funding sources include proceeds from Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative auctions, revenue from ISO New England's Forward Capacity Market, state appropriations and federal grants, as catalogued in the Department of Public Service's 2026 Annual Energy Report.

Those sources are not all direct line items on residential utility bills. They nevertheless originate from regulated energy markets, public appropriations or federal taxpayers rather than from an independent pool of state-generated money.

Customers Paid Again at the Project Level

Participating customers also contributed substantial amounts of their own money toward projects counted in program benefit calculations.

Efficiency Vermont's 2023 report calculated projected lifetime savings using:

  • $55.1 million in Efficiency Vermont costs;
  • $31.3 million in customer costs; and
  • $1.4 million in Department of Public Service evaluation and related costs.

For 2024, the calculation included:

  • $51.6 million in Efficiency Vermont costs;
  • $32.7 million in customer costs; and
  • $1.1 million in state evaluation and related costs.

Across those two years, participating customers contributed approximately $64 million directly, beyond charges already collected through utility bills and rates. Efficiency Vermont counted those customer expenditures as part of the total investment used to calculate projected lifetime benefits.

Burlington Electric applies the same approach to its long-term program accounting. BED reports approximately $91 million invested over 35 years, consisting of $47.8 million in BED spending and $43.2 million in matching expenditures by participating customers.

Approximately $480 Per Vermont Household

The clearly identifiable ratepayer-financed portion of the reported residential spending includes approximately:

  • $73.4 million in electric-efficiency spending by Efficiency Vermont and BED;
  • $12.3 million in Vermont Gas efficiency spending; and
  • $41.1 million in Tier III residential incentives embedded in electric rates.

That totals approximately $126.8 million over the report's four-year coverage period.

Spread evenly across roughly 262,500 Vermont households, that equals approximately $483 per household, or about $121 annually.

The calculation is an average, not an estimate of each household's actual bill charges. Customer costs vary by electric utility, gas service, energy consumption and rate structure. Some households participated in programs and received incentives; others paid the applicable charges without receiving a direct rebate or project.

Including the entire $151.3 million reported as residential environmental-benefit spending would equal approximately $576 per Vermont household, or $144 annually. That broader figure includes funding sources that were not collected directly through Vermont residential utility bills.

Spending Is Not the Same as Net Benefit

Efficiency Vermont reports that its 2023 investments will produce more than $174 million in lifetime savings, while its 2024 investments are projected to produce more than $151 million.

Those figures represent modeled savings over the expected life of equipment and building improvements. They are not annual household savings or cash payments to Vermonters. The calculations include assumptions concerning energy prices, avoided utility costs, equipment life and future energy consumption.

Burlington Electric reports that its efficiency investments currently save customers approximately $10 million annually in electricity costs, including avoided energy, transmission and capacity expenses. It also reports that Burlington's electricity consumption is approximately 8% lower than it was in 1989 despite subsequent economic and population activity.

The Environmental Benefits Spending Report does not reconcile those projected or systemwide savings against the amount collected from each household. It reports how much was spent, how much was directed toward low-income customers and whether utilities met their equity spending targets.

For the average Vermont household, the underlying records show approximately $480 in ratepayer-financed residential program spending over four years. Whether an individual household received more or less value than it paid depends largely on where it lives, which utility serves it and whether it participated in one of the programs.

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