Chittenden County

Moratoriums and bans

1. Aug. 2026 South Burlington: Zoning amendment defining data centers and barring those over a 20,000 sq ft footprint; facilities of 5,000 sq ft or less are treated as general commercial. The Planning Commission drafted the rules in a routine amendment package and held a hearing on June 23, 2026. The draft allowed small-scale facilities only in the mixed industrial-commercial and industrial zones. Seven Days reported the amendment was adopted in early August 2026. No primary city record of adoption was opened. (The Other Paper (via VTDigger), June 4, 2026; Seven Days, Sept. 9, 2026)

Updates, newest first

1. Oct. 28, 2026 University of Vermont primary data center · UVM's research computing page describes the data center that hosts the VACC as cooled with outside air, without evaporative cooling (page undated; checked on this date). (University of Vermont, Vermont Advanced Computing Center, Oct. 28, 2026)
2. Aug. 2026 South Burlington: Zoning amendment defining data centers and barring those over a 20,000 sq ft footprint; facilities of 5,000 sq ft or less are treated as general commercial · The Planning Commission drafted the rules in a routine amendment package and held a hearing on June 23, 2026. The draft allowed small-scale facilities only in the mixed industrial-commercial and industrial zones. Seven Days reported the amendment was adopted in early August 2026. No primary city record of adoption was opened. (The Other Paper (via VTDigger), June 4, 2026; Seven Days, Sept. 9, 2026)
3. Oct. 1, 2025 FirstLight Williston data center · FirstLight's current marketing describes the site as a SOC 2 Type 2 colocation facility with A/B UPS and generator backup. (FirstLight Fiber, undated; FirstLight Fiber, undated; FirstLight Fiber, undated)
4. Feb. 17, 2023 Tech Vault South Burlington data center · The Agency of Digital Services sought bids for a replacement state IaaS platform to be installed at Tech Vault, 21 Gregory Dr, South Burlington, with up to two full racks available. (State of Vermont, Agency of Digital Services (solicitation posted on BidNet Direct), Feb. 17, 2023; ConstructConnect, Feb. 17, 2023)
5. July 31, 2019 University of Vermont primary data center · UVM announced an upgrade of its research supercomputer and said the cluster sits in the university's primary data center in South Burlington. (University of Vermont (UVM Today), July 31, 2019)
6. March 25, 2014 FirstLight Williston data center · VTDigger reported that the expansion doubled capacity at the Krupp Drive building without making it bigger. Seven people worked at the site, one of four FirstLight data centers at the time. (VTDigger (via Vermont Business Magazine), March 25, 2014)
7. March 24, 2014 FirstLight Williston data center · FirstLight announced the second expansion of its Vermont data center in Williston, adding colocation space for local businesses. (FirstLight Fiber (press release via Telecom Ramblings newswire), March 24, 2014)
8. July 21, 2013 Tech Vault South Burlington data center · Cabot Creamery Cooperative signed a long-term colocation agreement. The announcement gave the facility's size as 35,000 sq ft and listed LEED Silver certification. (Vermont Business Magazine, July 21, 2013)
9. April 11, 2013 Tech Vault South Burlington data center · The state's Department of Information and Innovation signed a five-year colocation agreement with Tech Vault, which included a custom modular suite at the South Burlington facility. (Vermont Business Magazine, April 12, 2013)
10. Nov. 7, 2011 Tech Vault South Burlington data center · A Schneider Electric trade blog profiled the facility: a 6,000 sq ft data center designed for 102 racks at full buildout, with a stated PUE of 1.25 to 1.45. (Schneider Electric Data Center blog, Nov. 7, 2011)

Statewide

H.727 (2026), on sustainable data center deployment, sponsored by Rep. Laura Sibilia: referred to House committee Jan 21, 2026 and passed by the House Mar 31. The Senate adopted its amendment on a 26-3 roll call May 15 and passed the bill May 19; the House agreed to the Senate changes May 20. The bill reached the Governor May 22, and Gov. Phil Scott vetoed it May 28, 2026. (Vermont General Assembly, May 29, 2026; Vermont General Assembly, May 28, 2026; Office of Governor Phil Scott, May 28, 2026; Vermont Business Magazine, May 28, 2026) H.727 would have covered facilities using or able to use 20 MW or more. Each would have needed: electric service under a large load service equity contract approved by the PUC, keeping other ratepayers from bearing the facility's generation, transmission, distribution and capacity costs, with a minimum payment and collateral; an Act 250 permit in every case; closed-loop cooling or an approved alternative, plus added environmental review for more than 150,000 gallons a day of surface water; PFAS monitoring of discharges; backup combustion generators limited to emergencies; an annual energy payment for host and nearby communities; and public quarterly reports on water and energy use. (Vermont General Assembly, May 28, 2026) The House took up the veto on May 29, 2026. The vote was 83-52, short of the two-thirds needed, so the veto was sustained and the bill did not become law. VTDigger later reported that the override fell seven votes short. (Vermont General Assembly, May 29, 2026; Vermont Business Magazine, May 28, 2026; VTDigger, Sept. 9, 2026) S.205 (2026), sponsored by Sen. Rebecca White with Sens. Bongartz, Hardy, Major and Vyhovsky, would have paused the operation, site preparation and construction of AI data centers needing more than 100 MW of new load until July 1, 2030, and directed the PUC to study such facilities and report by Jan 15, 2027. It was referred to Senate Finance on Jan 6, 2026. The committee took testimony in January and February, and no committee vote or later action is recorded. (Vermont General Assembly, Jan. 6, 2026; Vermont General Assembly, Jan. 6, 2026; Vermont General Assembly, Feb. 18, 2026) H.370 (2025), the Cryptocurrency Public Protection Act, sponsored by Rep. William Greer: alongside crypto consumer and fraud provisions, it would have had the PUC investigate a siting process for cryptocurrency mining facilities and set electric and water rates for them so other ratepayers would not bear added costs. It was referred to the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development on Feb 26, 2025, and no further action is recorded. (Vermont General Assembly, Feb. 26, 2025; Vermont General Assembly, Feb. 26, 2025) PUC large-load rules: no PUC docket on a large-load tariff or data center rule was found. The Department of Public Service told lawmakers that every utility tariff and contract needs PUC approval, and that a large load on the transmission system could take service by tariff or contract or become a self-managed utility, which would need Commission approval under 30 V.S.A. §231 and §248. VELCO pointed to GlobalPower, a separate utility formed to take transmission service for GlobalFoundries. The Department backed the Commission's recommendation to require large load service equity contracts and opposed requiring a tariff from each utility. (Vermont Department of Public Service (testimony to House Energy and Digital Infrastructure), Feb. 12, 2026; VELCO (testimony to House Energy and Digital Infrastructure), Feb. 23, 2026; Vermont Public, Feb. 26, 2026) Green Mountain Power Rate 70 is an existing GMP rate for large, high-demand customers. The Department of Public Service cited it as an option for customers served directly from the transmission grid with peaks above 10 MW, who pay for the transmission upgrades their load needs. In April 2026 GMP told a Senate committee it had studied adding 50-200 MW at the GlobalFoundries campus in Williston and at sites in New Haven, Vernon, Granite and West Rutland, and found no significant system concern. (Vermont Department of Public Service (testimony to House Energy and Digital Infrastructure), Feb. 12, 2026; Green Mountain Power (presentation to Senate Natural Resources and Energy), April 22, 2026) VELCO told a House committee in February 2026 that no one had asked to connect a large data center to its transmission system. Any such load would face regional reliability studies required by ISO New England, and the customer would pay for the studies and any transmission upgrades. (VELCO (testimony to House Energy and Digital Infrastructure), Feb. 23, 2026) Act 250 (current law): there is no Act 250 trigger written specifically for data centers. Vermont Public reported that a smaller data center would need PUC approval and might also face Act 250 review and local zoning. H.727 would have required Act 250 permits for all covered data centers, but it was vetoed. (Vermont Public, Oct. 2, 2026; Vermont General Assembly, May 28, 2026) Vermont data centers →