For more than a century, our town has been a cutting-edge electricity producer for New England. This proud history has been dominated by two reliable, low-emission, affordable energy generators.
In a plan that we call Re-Energizing Vernon, the Planning and Economic Development Commission is now drafting the third chapter: exploring the possibility of a multi-fuel, clean-energy, affordable micro-grid on the site of Vermont Yankee.
Vernon has produced electricity since the late 1800s. The existing 32-megawatt Vernon dam began operating in 1909.
Like the proposed micro-grid, the Vernon generating equipment was innovative when designed. It featured vertical turbines when horizontal was the norm. The concrete dam built on bedrock proved sturdier than the conventional rock-filled timber dams.