Here's what the Commission does and does not regulate within each industry category. The Commission also provides routine and special reports to the Vermont State Legislature.
Our Jurisdiction
Electricity - General
What we regulate:
- Rates paid by consumers
- Quality of service
- Net-metering
- Siting and construction of generation and transmission facilities
- Line extensions
- Service disconnection
- Safety
- Energy efficiency programs
- Long-term out-of-state power purchase agreements
- Some long-term contracts for in-state renewable energy resources
- Long-term resource planning
- Utility franchise territory boundaries
- Rates paid to independent power producers
- Intrastate interconnection of transmission or distribution facilities
- Compliance with State statutes and Commission orders
What we do not regulate:
- Transmission of electricity in interstate commerce (except facility siting)
- Wholesale electricity sales in interstate commerce
- Hydroelectric facilities subject to federal regulation
Electricity - Nuclear Power
What we regulate:
- Siting, construction, and decommissioning of facilities, including waste storage facilities
- Reliability of nuclear power generated in Vermont (though no plants currently generate nuclear power in Vermont)
- Compliance with State statutes and Commission orders
What we do not regulate:
- Nuclear power plant radiological safety
- Health concerns due to radiation exposure
- Nuclear waste transportation or permanent disposal
Electricity - Hydroelectric Power
What we regulate:
- Hydroelectric dam ownership/operating issues arising under Vermont law
What we do not regulate:
- Hydroelectric dam ownership/operating issues arising under federal law
- Interconnection to the interstate transmission system
- Wholesale electricity transmission in interstate commerce
- Wholesale electricity sales in interstate commerce
Electricity - Wind Generation
What we regulate:
- Siting and construction of facilities
- Compliance with State statutes and Commission orders
Natural Gas
What we regulate:
- Rates paid by consumers
- Quality of service
- Service disconnection
- Line extensions
- Siting and construction of intrastate transmission facilities
- Long-term power purchase agreements
- Long-term resource planning
- Energy efficiency programs
- Local distribution pipelines
- Pipeline safety
- Compliance with State statutes and Commission orders
What we do not regulate:
- Interstate transmission pipelines
- International transmission pipelines
Telecommunications
What we regulate:
- Intrastate telephone service rates and service quality
- Interstate telephone service quality
- Service disconnection
- Wholesale telephone service quality
- Line extensions
- Siting and construction of certain telecommunications towers
- Interconnection agreements (arbitration per Federal Telecommunications Act)
- Administration of the extended area service process
- Franchise territory boundaries
- E911 service
- Lifeline program
- Telecommunications relay service
- Basic exchange telecommunications services
What we do not regulate:
- Interstate telephone service rates
- Cellular telephone service rates or availability
- Most internet service providers
Cable Television
What we regulate:
- Service quality
- Service disconnection
- Line extensions
- Franchise territory boundaries
- Public Education and Governmental ("PEG") system capacity
- Adequacy of funding and facilities for meeting PEG obligations
- Activities of PEG access management organizations
What we do not regulate:
- Rates paid by consumers
- Channel offerings to consumers
Water and Sewer
What we regulate:
- Rates paid by consumers of certain water and sewer systems
- Utility finances
- Service quality
- Service disconnection
What we do not regulate:
- Water quality
- Water systems owned by users, municipalities or fire districts
- Privately-owned sewer systems with less than 750 source connections
- Sewer systems owned by users, municipalities, or fire districts