Abstract
The City of Burlington, Vermont was the first city in America to power 100 percent of its electricity from renewable resources that include wood, hydroelectricity, wind, and solar. This achievement was accomplished over decades through a series of interconnected factors that include strong governmental leadership, regional and state regulatory frameworks for renewable energy and climate change, and innovative policies from the local electric utility, Burlington Electric Department (BED). Many lessons could be learned from this achievement in this small city in the least populated state in the nation. However, significant challenges remain as society grapples with decarbonizing our energy supply which in the United States is still predominantly fossil fuel based.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Further Reading
Burlington Electric Department General Information. https://www.burlingtonelectric.com/.
Burlington Electric Department’s Integrated Resource Plan (2016). https://www.burlingtonelectric.com/irp.
Burlington Legacy Plan.https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/Sustainability/Legacy-Action-Plan.
Burlington’s Climate Action Plan and District Energy Study. https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/Sustainability/CAP.
Efficiency Vermont Information. https://www.efficiencyvermont.com/.
PBS Special on Burlington, Vermont. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/vermont-city-come-rely-100-percent-renewable-energy/.
References
Abotah and Daim. 2017. Toward Building a Multi Perspective Policy Development Framework for Transition Into Renewable Energy. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 21: 67–88.
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). State and Local Policy Database. Available at: http://database.aceee.org/.
Barbose, Galen, Charles Goldman, and Jeff Schlegel. 2009. The Shift Landscape of Ratepayer-Funded Energy Efficiency in the US. Berkeley: Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Available at: https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/oeprod/DocumentsandMedia/LBNL_Shifting_Landscape_of_Ratepayer_Energy_Efficiency_REPORT.pdf.
Burlington, The Legacy Plan. 2000. Available at: https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/Sustainability/Legacy-Action-Plan.
Burlington, Vermont Climate Action Plan. 2000. Available at: https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/Sustainability/CAP.
Burlington. 2017. Mayor Weinberger Joins Open Letter to International Community and Parties to the Paris Agreement Stating “We Are Still In;” Affirms City of Burlington’s Commitment to Paris Agreement Goals. Available at: https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/Press/Mayor-Weinberger-Joins-Open-Letter-to-International-Community-and-Parties-to-the-Paris.
Burlington Electric Department (BED). n.d. McNeil Generating Station Information. Available at: https://www.burlingtonelectric.com/more-mcneil.
_______. 2016a. Integrated Resources Plan (IRP). Available at: https://www.burlingtonelectric.com/irp.
———. 2016b. Performance Report. Available at: https://www.burlingtonelectric.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/2016_pmr_vfr.pdf.
California Energy Commission. Renewable Energy Overview and Programs. (2017). Available at: http://www.energy.ca.gov/renewables/. Accessed 25 Sept 2017.
Cheng, Quan, and Hontao Yi. 2017. Complementarity and Substitutability: A Review of Renewable Energy Policy Instrument Interactions. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 67: 683–691.
Dixon, Robert K., Elizabeth McGowan, Ganna Onysko, and Richard M. Scheer. 2010. US Energy Conservation and Efficiency Policies: Challenges and Opportunities. Energy Policy 38 (11): 6398–6408.
Dreier and Clavel. 2016. Bernie’s Burlington: What Kind of Mayor Was Bernie Sander’s? Huffington Post, 4 June. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/bernies-burlington-what-k_b_7510704.html.
El-Ashry, Mohamed T. 2012. National Policies to Promote Renewable Energy. American Academy of Arts and Sciences 141 (2): 105–111.
Frederick, Paul and Jaramillo Diana. 2016. Vermont Residual Fuel Assessment. Available at: http://fpr.vermont.gov/sites/fpr/files/About_the_Department/Library/Library/FINAL_2015%20Residential%20Fuel%20Assessment%20Report.pdf.
Gerwatowski, Ron. 2016. 2016 Report of the Consumer Liaison Group. Available at: https://www.iso-ne.com/staticassets/documents/2017/03/2016_report_of_the_consumer_liaison_group_final.pdf.
Green, David L., and Changzheng Liu. 2015. US Oil Dependence 2014: Is Energy Independence in Sight? Energy Policy 85: 126–137.
ISO – New England. n.d. Available at: https://www.iso-ne.com/.
Jacobs, Meg. 2016. Panic at the Pump: The Energy Crisis and the Transformation of American Politics in the 1970s. New York: Hill & Wang.
McDonnell. 2017. Forget the Paris Agreement. The Real Solution to Climate Change Is in the U.S. Tax Code. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/10/02/forget-the-paris-agreement-the-real-solution-to-climate-change-is-in-the-u-s-taxcode/?utm_term=.8c16de0261b0.
National Land Cover Database (NLCD). 2011. Available at: https://www.mrlc.gov/nlcd2011.php.
National Conference on State Legislatures (NCSL). 2017. State Renewable Portfolio Standards and Goals. Available at: http://www.ncsl.org/research/energy/renewable-portfolio-standards.aspx.
NBC News. 2016. First Battery-Powered Home Goes Online in Vermont. Available at: http://www.mynbc5.com/article/first-battery-powered-homegoes-online-in-vermont/3327077.
New England Power Pool Generation Information System (NEPOOL). n.d. Available at: http://www.nepoolgis.com/.
New York State. n.d. Clean Energy Standard. Available at: https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Programs/Clean-Energy-Standard.
Outdoor Industry Association (OIA). 2017. Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economy Report. 26 July. https://outdoorindustry.org/resource/vermontoutdoor-recreation-economy-report/.
Peters, Adele. 2015. It’s Actually Kinda Easy Being Green. Fast Company 198. Available at: https://www.fastcompany.com/50154/its-easybeing-Green.
Renewable Energy Vermont (REV). 2016. Renewable Energy Credits. Available at: http://www.revermont.org/wp-content/uploads/REC-Factsheet-REV-4-14-2016.pdf.
Science News. 2008. Rock Port, Missouri, First 100 Percent Wind-powered Community in U.S. Available at: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715165441.htm.
Sierra Club. 2017. Transitioning All Electricity in US Cities to 100% Renewable Energy Will Reduce Carbon Pollution and Help US Meet Paris Climate Agreement Targets. Available at: https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/blog/RF100Report622.pdf.
Sovacool, Benjamin, Alex Gilbert, and Brian Thomson. 2014. Reviewing, Reforming, and Rethinking Global Energy Subsidies: Towards a Political Economy Research Agenda. Ecological Economics 135: 150–163.
Stronberg. 2017. Clean Energy in the Age of Trump Means Federal Preemption of State Incentives. Available at: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/ugc/articles/2017/07/21/clean-energy-inthe- age-of-trump-means-federal-preemption-of-state-incentives.html.
US Census. 2010. Decennial Census Population Statistics.
———. 2016. American Community Survey Population Statistics.
US EIA. 2017. Total Energy Overview. https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/. Accessed 25 Sept 2017.
US Energy Information Administration (US EIA). 2012. US Petroleum Product Exports Exceed Imports for the First Time in Over Six Decades. https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=5290.
US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). 2017. Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990–2015. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks-1990-2015. Accessed 25 Sept 2017.
Vassar, Michael. 2016. Incentives or Mandates? determinants of the Renewable Energy Policies of US States, 1970–2012. Social Problems 63 (2): 284–301.
Vermont Gas. Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). 2017. Available at: http://www.vermontgas.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/2017-IRP.pdf.
Vermont Public Service Board. 2015. Report on 2015 Energy Efficiency Utility Program Revenues and Expenditures Pursuant to 30 V.S.A. § 209(d)(3)(A). Available at: http://puc.vermont.gov/sites/psbnew/files/doc_library/EEUReportToLegislature2015%28Jan2017%29.pdf.
———. 2016. Vermont Comprehensive Energy Plan. Available at: http://publicservice.vermont.gov/publicationsresources/publications/energy_plan/2015_plan.
White House. 2017. President Trump’s Energy Independence Policy. Available at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-pressoffice/2017/03/28/president-trumps-energy-independence-policy.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Garren, S.J. (2018). Sustainable Renewable Energy: The Case of Burlington, Vermont. In: Brinkmann, R., Garren, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Sustainability. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71389-2_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71389-2_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71388-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71389-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)