Balancing Affordability, Reliability and Vermont’s Energy Future
Thursday, September 24, 2026, on Common Sense Radio with Bill Sayre, weekdays, 11 o’clock till Noon.
Kerrick Johnson, Vermont Commissioner of the Department of Public Service, joins Bill to discuss how best to achieve the multiple, sometimes competing, goals of energy policy in Vermont — with special emphasis on the goal of affordability for Vermont families, particularly young families, and affordability for Vermont businesses want in Vermont to grow, invest, and hire.
Potential Questions and Issues
Tell us about the Department of Public Service — its mission and how you accomplish it. What is the role of the Public Utilities Commission? Does your Department, therefore, represent the public before the Commission? Are proceedings before the Commission quasi-judicial? Are other interest group, individuals, and organizations allowed to participate in the proceedings? What are the criteria which they must meet, in order to qualify for participation?
How do our Vermont energy costs compare with energy costs in other States? What are the factors that determine energy prices? Factors affecting supply and cost, and factors affecting demand?
What are the environmental and climate goals that energy policy can affect? Greenhouse gas emissions. What are the connections between climate policy on the one hand, and on the other, water quality and air quality?
What are the categories of fuel from which Vermont’s electricity is created? And what proportions of the total? Hydro, nuclear, wind, natural gas, oil, wood, other/. What proportion comes from the regional grid — ISO? What do the initials ISO represent?
What should we know about advances in nuclear power technology? Smaller scale; lower risk; more recycling. What is fluid bed technology? What do James Hanson, one of the architects of the Global Warming theory, and Patrick Moore, one of the founders of Greenpeace, have to say about the role of nuclear energy in reducing our Carbon footprint?
What is the role of battery technology in storing and providing energy? What is the connection between batteries and greater use of electric power? For example, storing energy when supplies are high and/or less expensive, then supplying electricity when other supplies are low and/or expensive.
How does weather affect Vermont energy — particularly electricity?
What should we know about electricity transmission issues — challenges and opportunities? Why is tree trimming important to energy reliability?
Why is it sometimes difficult to remember the importance of electricity in our lives? So reliable that we take it for granted — until it is not. What can we learn from the experience of Cuba, where availability of electricity is severely limited? What is a brownout and/or a rolling blackout? Can you help us understand how it happens, how it unfolds?
What factors should we consider in evaluating the role of Data Centers? How much energy they use, and how they provide it and/or pay for it? Is there some hypochrisy in that some of the greatest opponents of Data Centers are some of the greatest users of Artificial Intelligence?
How is Artificial Intelligence used in electricity markets, and regulation?
What is the role of forest and wood products in energy and climate policy? Is wood a renewable resource? Is wood energy renewable energy? What is the best way to look at the renewability of forest resources? Not as a tree, but as a woodlot, or even as a landscape,
What should we know about the Clean Heat Standard? And the Renewable Energy Standard? What are the issues that have arisen over double counting of Renewable Energy Credits? How do we resolve these issues?
