VELCO Pinnacle Ridge data center
An enterprise data center owned by VELCO, Vermont's transmission utility, at its Pinnacle Ridge campus, in a building VELCO says meets standards for critical operational systems. In 2017 the AP reported that VELCO received a land use permit for a data center of nearly 7,000 sq ft in Rutland Town, estimated at $9.2 million, to hold its weather analytics system and other computers. VELCO's 2019 testimony to the PUC names Pinnacle Ridge as its primary data center, with a secondary one in the West Rutland 345 kV substation control building. Also known as: VELCO primary data center, VELCO Rutland.
Who is behind it
The record, newest first
In testimony to the Public Utility Commission, VELCO named its Pinnacle Ridge campus in Rutland as the home of its primary data center and its West Rutland substation control building as the current secondary site. It proposed a new secondary data center in the basement of the main building of a planned New Haven operations center. (Vermont Electric Power Company (filing to Vermont Public Utility Commission), Nov. 15, 2019)
The AP reported that VELCO received a land use permit for a Rutland Town data center of nearly 7,000 sq ft, at a cost of $9.2 million, for its weather analytics system and other computers. Permit conditions call for monitoring possible blasting effects on nearby foundations and wells. (Associated Press (via The Washington Times), June 12, 2017)
Conflicts and open questions
- The 2017 AP story gives the location only as Rutland Town. Linking it to the Pinnacle Ridge campus is an inference from VELCO's 2019 testimony, so the sqft and investment figures should be checked against the Act 250 permit (District 1) before publishing.
- Secondary data centers (the West Rutland substation and the proposed New Haven site at 760 Main St) are not separate records. Their current status was not confirmed.
- The 2019 filing's case number was left blank in the document (19-____-PET).
- Coordinates are the Census geocode of 366 Pinnacle Ridge Rd, which falls in Rutland Town (Census county subdivision).
- The AP headline is taken from the article URL; the page itself could not be loaded past a bot check, and its text was read via a fetch tool.
The full record
- Status note
- VELCO's 2019 PUC testimony described its primary data center at its Pinnacle Ridge campus, 366 Pinnacle Ridge Road, Rutland, as an existing facility.
- Power note
- Power capacity not reported.
- Evidence
- Primary public records
- Size class
- Under 50 MW (outside main scope; kept for completeness)