Voters in Barton Village, Vt., Decide Not To Sell Public Power Utility To Cooperative

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 11, 2022

Voters in Barton Village, Vt., elected not to sell Barton Electric to Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) in a ballot vote on May 10.

The decision allows Barton Village to continue owning and operating the public power utility that serves more than 2,000 customers in Barton, Brownington, Charleston, Irasburg, and Westmore. 

“I’d like to thank the Barton Village residents for the commitment they’ve shown to their municipal electric utility,” said Ken Nolan, Vermont Public Power Supply Authority (VPPSA) General Manager.

“Over the past several weeks, voters dedicated themselves to learning as much as possible about the electric utility industry so they could make an informed decision,” he said. “Please know that VPPSA stands ready to assist the community as you move forward and explore the options for serving residents and customers of Barton Electric.”  

Barton Village Trustees first announced their recommendation to sell the electric utility to VEC in March. Two informational meetings were held prior to the vote on May 10. 

For more than 40 years, VPPSA has assisted Barton Electric with services and solutions to ensure safe, reliable, and affordable electric service, VPPSA noted. 

VPPSA is a joint action agency. Its membership includes 12 consumer-owned municipals in Vermont and the Authority has broad statutory powers that enable it to provide such services as may be required in support of the activities of its member municipal utilities and to market its services to non-member utilities as it deems appropriate.