Vermont’s state government is failing to meet and monitor long-running goals aimed at reducing the amount of energy the state consumes, according to a report from the Vermont State Auditor’s Office released this week.
The audit, led by auditor Doug Hoffer, focuses on shortcomings in two initiatives: the State Agency Energy Plan, which has provided guidance to state agencies since 1992 on reducing energy consumption in government work, and the State Energy Management Program, which the Department of Buildings and General Services uses to implement energy-efficiency projects in state buildings.
The report says the Department of Buildings and General Services has not been measuring the state’s progress against the goals laid out in the State Agency Energy Plan, despite a requirement for the department to report on that progress every two years. It also says the department has no system in place to quantify how much transportation fuel state employees use and no system for tracking how much energy the state uses in the buildings it leases.
According to the auditor, the department also lacks an established way to capture all energy used across state buildings, leaving the state without a clear basis for determining whether the program is achieving the intended reductions.
The audit further highlights problems with how the department calculates savings for particular projects, including two lighting projects cited by the auditor. One project at the Barre Courthouse cost $143,170 more than its expected lifetime savings, according to estimates by Efficiency Vermont, the organization that contracts with the state to reduce energy use and cost. The report says the department’s internal estimates told a different story, projecting it would cost $72,749 more than it would save.
The auditor’s report also found that a lighting project at the government office building at 133 State St. in Montpelier would cost $550,687 more than expected lifetime savings. The report says that when the department originally justified the project, it estimated more than $303,000 in savings, in part because it was partially paid for with funds from outside the State Energy Management Program.
More broadly, the auditor described what it characterized as miscalculation by the department. The Auditor’s Office compared Efficiency Vermont’s estimates of lifetime savings for 13 projects and found the Department of Buildings and General Services overestimated savings by more than $1,666,500.
The report also raises concerns about whether the program is completing enough cost-saving projects. It says the program normally completes around five projects a year, but that over the last three fiscal years it completed only one or two a year.
Hoffer wrote that staffing shortages are likely a factor, noting that one or both energy project manager positions have been vacant since 2021. The auditor said it is likely not due to a lack of potential projects, adding that the program identified more than 50 projects through energy audits from 2016 through 2024, but the department completed only 15.
The auditor’s report includes recommendations that the department adhere to the reporting requirements, develop a system for tracking energy use, scale up the number of projects it does, and improve coordination with Efficiency Vermont. Wanda Minoli, the commissioner of the Department of Buildings and General Services, responded in a letter added to the report, agreeing with nearly all of the auditor’s findings and providing a timeline for implementing the recommendations.