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A field guide for Vermonters
Vermont is too green to let data centers destroy it!
Big AI data centers use huge amounts of power and water. Vermont has almost none yet. This guide shows what's happening, who's fighting it, who's clearing the way, and what you can do.
➜Swipe left, or press the → key, to move through the story. The toolkit to download is at the end.
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What's happening
What is a data center?
It is a giant warehouse full of computers. The big new ones run artificial intelligence — AI.
They never turn off. So they drink power and water day and night. One big one can use as much power as a small city.
➜Start here — what these buildings are, in plain terms.
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What's happening
Vermont has almost none — yet
Today Vermont's data centers use only ~5 MW of power. That is three small sites near Burlington.
One big new AI data center could use up to ~300 MW. That is not a new customer. That is a whole new city plugged into a small state.
Sources: VTDigger, 2026-02-24 · Vermont Public · VTDigger, 2026-02-24
➜The scale problem, in two numbers.
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Who is involved
Two sides
Some people want fair rules before a big data center arrives. Others want to let them in with no new rules. Here is who is on each side.
Wants limitsFighting to rein data centers in
- The Vermont Legislature — passed a bill to set limits, by a wide margin
- VNRC & VPIRG — Vermont groups pushing to protect your bills and water
- Sen. Bernie Sanders — trying to rein in data centers in Washington
Clearing the wayLetting data centers in unchecked
- Gov. Phil Scott — vetoed the limits — so none became law
- Big Tech demand — AI firms hunting for cheap power and land
- The federal government — fast-tracking big power users nationwide
➜The heart of it: who wants limits, and who is clearing the way.
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Who is involved
Governor Scott cleared the way
On May 28, 2026, Governor Scott vetoed the bill that would limit data centers.
That means he sided with the data centers. He killed the bill made to slow them down. His reason: he says Vermont's old laws are already enough.
Source: governor.vermont.gov (action on legislation, 2026-05-28) · VTDigger
➜What the veto actually means — stated plainly and fairly.
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Who is involved
Your lawmakers voted for limits
The state Senate passed the bill 26–3. The House passed it too — a near-unanimous vote.
All three parties backed it. This was one of the strongest data-center votes in the whole country.
Sources: legislature.vermont.gov (H.727 roll call) · legislature.vermont.gov (H.727)
➜The other side of that veto: how many lawmakers wanted the rules.
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Who is involved
Washington is clearing the way
The federal government is speeding data centers up, not slowing them down. A federal order — EO 14318 — pushes to build them fast.
Federal energy regulators are working on the same thing (docket FERC EL26-72). So Vermont's own rules matter more, not less.
Sources: Executive Order 14318 (2025) · Federal Register · FERC Docket EL26-72-000 · broader rulemaking RM26-4-000
➜The national backdrop — and why Vermont's own tools matter more, not less.
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Who is involved
Bernie is pushing back
Senator Bernie Sanders wants to rein data centers in. He has a bill in the Senate — S.4214.
It would make big AI firms answer for the power they use. It shows this fight runs from your town all the way to Washington.
Source: congress.gov (S.4214)
➜Vermont's own senator, on the other side of the fight.
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Where it stands
The bill: H.727
The bill is called H.727. It would make any big data center get state review first.
The line is 20 MW of power — about the size of a small city. Above that, the state checks the plan, and makes the company pay its own costs.
Source: H.727 bill text · legislature.vermont.gov
➜The bill at the center of it all: H.727.
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Where it stands
So close
After the Governor's veto, the House tried to overrule him. The vote was 83–52.
It fell just 7 votes short. The veto held on a party-line vote. So the limits did not become law.
Sources: Broadband Breakfast, 2026 · VTDigger · legislature.vermont.gov · VTDigger
➜How close it came — and how small the gap really is.
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Where it stands
Where it stands now
Right now Vermont has no data-center law. The door your lawmakers voted to close is still open.
But the bill is written and ready. A big majority already voted yes once. The job is to bring it back and close a small gap.
➜The state of play today — and the good news in it.
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Why it matters
Vermont's grid is tiny
At its busiest, all of Vermont uses about ~880 MW of power at once.
One big data center could rival that. So planners would size the whole grid around it. And you would help pay for it.
Source: Vermont Dept. of Public Service, 2026 Annual Energy Report
➜Why one building is a statewide event here.
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Why it matters
Your bills are already high
Vermonters pay about ~35% above the national average for power.
And rates are rising. Green Mountain Power goes up +5.5% on October 1, 2026. New hookup costs could push your bill higher still.
Sources: U.S. EIA · Vermont Dept. of Public Service · PUC Case 26-0096-TF · VTDigger, 2026-09-08
➜What this means for the bill in your mailbox.
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Why it matters
Where they grow, bills jump
Look at states that let data centers in fast. On one big grid, data-center demand drove costs up +$7.3B (82%) in a single year. Its market watchdog blamed 63% of an earlier price spike on data centers.
In Virginia — the biggest hub — home rates could climb up to 70% in ten years. Vermont can act now to keep that from happening here.
Sources: PJM Independent Market Monitor (Monitoring Analytics) · Utility Dive, 2025-10-01 · Virginia JLARC 2024 study · PolitiFact, 2026-06-12
➜What happened in states that let them in fast.
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Why it matters
The grid was the brake
Vermont's one real try at a big data center fell apart in 2025. Just one grid hookup would have cost ~$30M.
The small grid stopped it — no law did. And these buildings use a lot of water to stay cool. That is a real worry for Vermont's rivers.
Source: VTDigger, 2026-02-24 · Vermont Public, 2026-02-26
➜Vermont's one real test case — and the water question.
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What you can do
You already have tools
Vermont law already requires 100% by 2035 renewable power. A dirty diesel backup would break that law.
Other states show the way too. MD & OR, 2025 passed laws making big data centers pay their own power costs. Vermont can do the same.
Sources: Act 179 (H.289) · Global Warming Solutions Act · Maryland & Oregon session laws, 2025
➜You are not starting from zero.
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What you can do
The one move that matters
Ask your lawmakers to bring back H.727 next session. The whole gap is just 7 votes.
Tell them: you want fair rules before a big data center arrives, not after. Then use the toolkit on the next screen to reach the right people.
➜The single most useful thing you can push for.
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Take action
Who to contact in Vermont
Three decision-makers hold the levers. Start with your own — then bring in the groups that already do this work every day.
Your three decision-makers
- 1 · StateYour legislators
Your representative and senator can bring H.727 back. Find them by town.
legislature.vermont.gov/people - 2 · LocalYour town
Selectboard & Planning Commission can act before a proposal arrives. Reach them through your town clerk.
sos.vermont.gov/elections/town-clerks - 3 · EnergyPublic Utility Commission
Where §248 energy cases are decided — and where the public can file comments.
puc.vermont.gov
Allies & watchdogs — groups already on this
- Vermont Natural Resources Council
Led the push for H.727. Has a standing data-center program you can plug into.
vnrc.orginfo@vnrc.org · 802-223-2328 - VPIRG
Vermont Public Interest Research Group — co-advocate with VNRC in the State House.
vpirg.org - Vermont League of Cities & Towns
Town Meeting and municipal-authority resources for local action.
vlct.org
Where the rules live
- Land Use Review Board (Act 250)
Reviews land use and development. Formerly the Natural Resources Board — renamed under Act 181 (2024) & Act 152 (2026).
act250.vermont.gov - Your congressional delegation
The federal counterpart — including Senator Sanders' AI data-center work.
congress.gov/members
Routes verified against legislature.vermont.gov · puc.vermont.gov · sos.vermont.gov · act250.vermont.gov · vnrc.org · vpirg.org · vlct.org (2026)
➜The people to actually reach — and the groups already doing this work.
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Take action
Take the toolkit with you
Everything you just read, in one printable field guide — sourced from public record. Download it, print it for a neighbor, bring it to Town Meeting.
Then do one thing today: email your legislator, ask your selectboard to study local safeguards, or send this to someone who votes in your town. Vermont came within seven votes of the strongest data-center rules in the country. Finishing the job is now a Vermonter-by-Vermonter effort — and that includes you.