Data Center Land in Vermont (VT)

The Four Sites Vermont's Largest Utility Has Already Scouted

Ahead of any confirmed project, Green Mountain Power did the site-selection homework a developer normally does itself — a sign of how seriously the state's largest utility is taking the possibility, even without a live deal to point to. GMP identified four candidate locations, each chosen for existing proximity to power infrastructure rather than land price or acreage alone: New Haven, next to a VELCO (Vermont Electric Power Company) transmission substation; Williston, near the existing GlobalFoundries semiconductor campus, where industrial-scale power infrastructure is already in place; West Rutland, at a former granite quarry with an existing industrial footprint; and Vernon, adjacent to the site of the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.

The Vernon site is worth a closer look for any landowner near a decommissioned power plant elsewhere in the country, not just in Vermont — retired generation sites often retain high-voltage transmission connections built for a plant many times larger than most data centers need, which can shortcut some of the interconnection timeline that slows greenfield sites. See our guide to brownfield and former industrial sites for data center development for how that pattern plays out more broadly. As of early 2026, GMP characterized actual developer contact as limited — “maybe one or two very speculative general inquiries over the years,” not a formal proposal at any of the four sites.

H.727: A Regulatory Framework That Passed, Then Didn't

The Vermont Sustainable Data Center Development Act, H.727, was Vermont lawmakers' attempt to write the rules before a large project actually applied — Representative Laura Sibilia, one of its sponsors, framed it directly as “having this conversation now before proposals arrive, not after commitments have already been made.” Unlike Maine's approach the same year, H.727 wasn't a moratorium; it was a regulatory framework requiring data centers of 20 megawatts or more to sign utility contracts insulating other ratepayers from the cost of grid upgrades their load requires, address whether they could curtail power draw during a grid emergency, complete added site-specific environmental review, and make a payment toward Vermont's climate initiatives.

The bill passed with genuinely rare bipartisan margins for a contested energy issue — 26-3 in the Senate and a near-unanimous voice vote in the House — on May 26, 2026. Governor Phil Scott vetoed it two days later, arguing it “creates an unacceptable precedent which will have much broader consequences for economic opportunity and long-term competitiveness in Vermont,” and that the state “cannot afford policies that risk driving current or future jobs and investment to other states.” The House attempted an override the next day and fell short, 83-52 — short of the two-thirds threshold, even though every Democrat, Independent, and Progressive present supported the override. Republicans who had backed the bill during the session shifted to opposing the override once the governor staked out a position.

The result is a state with no enacted data center-specific regulatory framework today, but with a very clear record of what the Legislature wants that framework to look like if a version returns in a future session — and a governor on record that the current approach goes too far. A developer sizing a Vermont project at or above 20 MW should read H.727's actual terms as a preview of likely future conditions, not assume the veto closes the question permanently.