Stowe Electric Department on Monday welcomed an entourage of federal officials who came bearing an early Christmas gift: $6 million in funding that will pay for a passel of green energy projects the utility has long been planning.
Among the projects the utility will tackle using the money is a new small hydroelectric dam just outside the Stowe Electric headquarters, in Stowe’s Moscow neighborhood.
The money is part of $78.3 million made available through the federal Inflation Reduction Act, as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Powering Affordable Clean Energy Program.
Along with Stowe, six other similar-sized projects will share the funding — two in American Samoa, two in Maryland and one each in Ohio and Washington.
Stowe Electric general manager Jackie Pratt said Monday that, on her first day on the job in 2022, then-Rep. Peter Welch was on hand as a group of University of Vermont students were at the utility, working on site plans related to the very projects this money will fund.
“Implementation of these projects will help prepare Stowe Electric to support an equitable clean energy transition for all members of our community,” Pratt said. “While receiving this funding is an achievement in and of itself, the real work is just beginning.”
Welch, now a senator, was back Monday to announce the PACE funding, along with representatives for Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Becca Balint, as well as local, state and federal officials. Welch said that Vermont’s goal of having 100 percent renewable energy sources for its power grid by the year 2030 is admirable for its carbon footprint, but it’s also attractive when it’s cheap.
“People have to pay their bills at the end of the month, so when you give them an option for clean energy that’s affordable, folks are going to take that,” Welch said.
Here are the things that the $6 million will help fund in Stowe:
• Smith’s Falls hydroelectric: This project will involve micro-hydro generation and dam restoration at Stowe Electric’s headquarters. Stowe Electric officials say it will provide on-bill credits for low-income customers, “lowering the energy burden for those least able to afford.”
Dam upgrades will also enhance flood response capabilities in Moscow Village.
• Mountain Road line hardening: Funding will improve resiliency of the 34.5kV sub-transmission line that serves Mountain Road and high-density areas in Stowe. Officials say it will help shorten restoration times and foster economic development.
• Emergency operations center: This includes renovations to the historic “millwright’s office” at the Stowe Electric headquarters to house an emergency operations center, office space, and hydro facility controls, ensuring the utility can quickly respond to any service disruptions or emergencies.
• Moscow Mills solar: This investment will support renewable energy generation at Stowe Electric’s headquarters, contributing to the utility’s efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
• Express circuit: This project will provide redundancy for supplying service to Mountain Road in the event of an outage on Stowe Electric’s sub-transmission line. It will improve system resiliency and restoration times and allow staff to make future repairs and improvements to the sub-transmission line without interrupting service.
• Distribution automation loop feed: This upgrade will implement automated switching technology to enhance the resiliency of the electric grid and improve restoration times in the event of an outage. It will also provide more infrastructure to support Stowe High School, which serves as an emergency shelter.
• Weeks Hill to Percy Hill 3-phase: This project will replace aging infrastructure and enable a loop feed system that improves resiliency and speeds up restoration times.
Andy Berke, with USDA’s Rural Utilities Service, was mayor of Chattanooga from 2013-2021. He said when he was a baby in the city, Walter Cronkite produced a CBS News special referring to it as “the dirtiest city in America.”
Fast forward to Berke’s time as mayor, and Outside Magazine called the area the best county in the country, because of its clean water, air and woods.
“I think about this transition from dirtiest city in America to best town ever every time that we do one of these presentations,” Berke said. “Because the role that we play, and that the electric utility plays in making sure that we have clean air and clean water — so that the things that people love about Vermont are the reasons that they can either come here or stay here — that’s critical to the future.”
Story Written by Tommy Gardner, Stowe Reporter