VT H0677

Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets must appear as a required party in Public Utility Commission proceedings for electric generation facilities over 500 kilowatts or energy storage facilities over 1 megawatt sited on tracts containing primary agricultural soils

Applications for electric generation facilities over 50 kilowatts must include information on primary, secondary, and local importance agricultural soils as defined by state law and the Natural Resources Conservation Service

Solar energy facility applicants must pay for a full-spectrum lifecycle audit of energy payback time and carbon dioxide emissions, covering resource extraction through disposal

Facilities that preclude farming on more than five acres of primary, statewide, or local importance agricultural soils, or that destroy more than five acres of forest ecosystems, shall be deemed an undue adverse effect and not in the public good

Effective date: July 1, 2026