House concurs in Senate amendments to H.727, adding ratepayer protections and PFAS and water safeguards for large data centers

The House concurred Wednesday in the Senateproposal of amendment to H.727, legislation creating a regulatory framework for large (20 MW+) data centers in Vermont.

A presenter from the Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee explained the Senate expanded the billpurpose to require that projects financially benefit existing ratepayers, broadened definitions of electric company and facility (including non-adjacent sites operated as one facility), and added minimum contract terms and mandatory demand-side management requirements. The Senate also added mandatory PUC reviews every two years with authority to reopen reviews for good cause.

On water and cooling, the Senate replaced a House-style general "closed-loop unless infeasible" requirement with a standard that allows closed-loop systems or a District Commission-approved alternative that uses no more water than a comparable closed-loop system and minimizes groundwater and surface-water use. The Agency of Natural Resources must assess projects that use more than 150,000 gallons per day of surface water, creating a rebuttable presumption against undue water pollution after ANR review and allowing ANR to reduce the threshold by rule. PFAS monitoring was expanded to require detection using EPA-approved methods, prohibitions against exceeding Vermont water quality standards (noted on the floor as still under development), and monitoring of withdrawn water if no standards yet exist.

The House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee took an 8-1-0 straw poll to concur with the Senate version; the House concurred by voice vote.