Key takeaways
- 16 community-owned utilities: 14 municipal utilities and 2 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail sales in Vermont in 2024.
- Together they served 113,015 of the state's 388,509 bundled retail customers (29%); 1 investor-owned utility served most of the rest.
- The largest public power utility is City of Burlington Electric, with 21,842 customers.
- The largest electric co-op is Vermont Electric Cooperative, Inc, with 41,122 customers.
Every public power utility and co-op in Vermont
Ranked by bundled retail customers in 2024, with retail sales in megawatt-hours and average price in cents per kilowatt-hour. Names are as EIA abbreviates them. Filter by type or search.
Showing all 16 utilities
| # | Utility | Type | Customers | Sales, MWh | Avg. price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vermont Electric Cooperative, Inc | Cooperative | 41,122 | 474,490 | 19.72¢ |
| 2 | City of Burlington Electric | Municipal | 21,842 | 322,587 | 17.26¢ |
| 3 | Washington Electric Coop | Cooperative | 12,134 | 76,002 | 27.39¢ |
| 4 | The Town of Lyndon Electric Department | Municipal | 6,249 | 58,789 | 18.08¢ |
| 5 | Town of Hardwick | Municipal | 4,868 | 35,675 | 18.62¢ |
| 6 | Village of Morrisville | Municipal | 4,669 | 48,700 | 16.21¢ |
| 7 | Town of Stowe | Municipal | 4,662 | 82,089 | 21.80¢ |
| 8 | Village of Ludlow | Municipal | 3,867 | 51,365 | 15.91¢ |
| 9 | Village of Swanton | Municipal | 3,821 | 52,925 | 12.93¢ |
| 10 | Barton Village, Inc | Municipal | 2,217 | 14,785 | 22.39¢ |
| 11 | Village of Northfield | Municipal | 1,895 | 29,905 | 12.93¢ |
| 12 | Village of Enosburg Falls | Municipal | 1,830 | 27,368 | 18.66¢ |
| 13 | Village of Hyde Park | Municipal | 1,427 | 13,452 | 19.27¢ |
| 14 | Village of Johnson | Municipal | 993 | 11,768 | 18.43¢ |
| 15 | Village of Jacksonville | Municipal | 737 | 5,402 | 17.57¢ |
| 16 | Village of Orleans | Municipal | 682 | 12,600 | 14.73¢ |
Public power vs. co-ops in Vermont
- Public power utilities — municipal utilities, public utility districts and state-owned utilities — are owned by the communities they serve and governed by a city council or elected board. They buy much like local governments: through public bids, board approvals and published budgets.
- Electric cooperatives are private, not-for-profit utilities owned by their members, who elect the board. Most buy power from a generation and transmission (G&T) co-op and make purchasing decisions through their own policies, often faster than public agencies.
Both publish their plans: watch board and council agendas, budgets, capital improvement plans and rate filings. Our utility funding tracker and rate case & IRP tracker show where the money is coming from.
Selling to Vermont utilities
- Start with the right person. Line, engineering, metering, IT and member-services managers usually define the need; the general manager or CEO and the board approve large purchases.
- Use the networks. State public power and cooperative associations, joint action agencies and G&T co-ops shape purchasing and share vendor experiences.
- Expect small teams. Many of the utilities on this list have only a handful of staff, so phone outreach and a clear reason to talk matter.
Read our guide to how public power, co-ops and water utilities buy, or see the largest public power utilities and largest electric co-ops nationally.
About this data
- Source. EIA's "2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total" (Table 10), from forms EIA-861 and EIA-861S. Average price is EIA's revenue divided by sales.
- Bundled customers only. The table counts customers who buy both energy and delivery from the utility, so it excludes distribution-only utilities and customers who buy energy from another supplier in retail-choice areas.
- Community-owned utilities only. This page lists municipal, public utility district, state-owned and cooperative utilities. Investor-owned and federal utilities are left out.
Sources
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total (Table 10): eia.gov