Saturday, November 1st at Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee, Vermont
Overview: 18th Annual VECAN Conference - November 1st, 2025
The 18th Annual Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network (VECAN) Conference was a success! We are pleased to have hosted this inspiring and mobilizing in-person event at this critical time, and we hope to see you and other community energy and climate action leaders again soon.
With the new federal administration doubling down on its commitment to fossil fuels, the need for local and state leadership on climate action and clean energy issues has never been greater. Thankfully, Vermont has leadership – and an opportunity – from the local level to the State Legislature to collaborate in new and creative ways to meet this moment.
This 2025 VECAN conference honed in on three primary themes:
Strategically leveraging Vermont’s Climate Action Plan to cut pollution, enhance resiliency and achieve greater energy equity;
Highlighting and harnessing the many rich resources within some leading universities and colleges;
And continuing to strengthen the powerful role – and collaborations – among community energy and climate leaders.
See below for all of the available resources from this year’s conference, with slides from workshop presenters and videos of our plenaries and keynote.
Civic engagement on clean energy and climate issues is more imperative than ever. We’d love to reconnect on November 1st!
Plenary Panel 1: Implementing the 2025 Climate Action Plan: A Blueprint for Broad, Equitable Climate Action
This opening session overviews the key elements of the recently adopted 2025 Climate Action Plan (CAP). Dr. Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux — Vermont’s State Climatologist and Climate Council member — grounds us in the broad focus and framework of the plan — and the latest science that makes this work so essential. And Climate Council members Jared Duval and David Mears will provide an overview of the top pollution-reduction and resilience strategies in the plan — and how Vermont communities might turn the CAP’s recommendations into action.
Plenary 2: Collaborations With Educational Institutions
Hear highlights of the climate and clean energy work, community collaboration, and research underway in some of Vermont and New Hampshire’s leading colleges and universities to elevate awareness and seed potential collaboration opportunities.
PANELISTS: ➠ Jenny Carter, Professor of Law, Institute for Energy & the Environment, Vermont Law and Graduate School ➠ Jon Erickson, Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education, University of Vermont ➠ Jon Isham, Professor of Economics & Environmental Studies, Middlebury College ➠ Erich Osterberg, Professor of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College ➠ Andrew Westgate, Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Vermont State University
With changes coming in rapidly at the federal level, so many are asking for new ways to get involved to continue the fight for a just climate future. In this session, we talk with advocacy leaders at VNRC, VPIRG, and VCV about successful strategies for leveraging your local impact in the state house. We discuss the ways energy committee members and leaders have engaged their legislators in the past, describe opportunities to get involved in the next legislative session, and show how effective advocacy can yield results at the municipal level.
PRESENTERS: ➠ Senator Anne Watson, Chair of the Senate Natural Resources Committee ➠ Representative Kathleen James, Chair of the House Energy & Digital Infrastructure Committee ➠ Johanna Miller, Vermont Natural Resources Council
A2: Building Climate Resilience: Tools, Tips, and Approaches
From the state to municipalities to neighborhoods, this panel explores the many scales that impact climate resilience planning and implementation in Vermont. Panelists share resilience tools and processes that can foster broader thinking toward our collective future with climate uncertainties.
PRESENTERS: ➠ Marion Wolz, Climate Action Office ➠ Jon Erickson, University of Vermont, Energy Sheds ➠ Lena Greenberg, Community Resilience Organizations ➠ Rhizome Cottiss, Community Resilience Organizations
A3: Working Effectively with Municipalities: Tips and Tricks for Energy Committees
This interactive panel will dive into what makes our towns run and ways for energy committees to flourish. We will ground in the context of many Vermont towns having limited staff capacity and being led by volunteer selectboards and committees. Then hear from selectboard and town energy committee members that successfully collaborate and communicate together. Come explore best practices and tips and tricks for clarifying your purpose and communicating with your town leadership in order to thrive as an energy committee.
PRESENTERS: ➠ Alyssa Johnson, Chairof the Waterbury Selectboard / Vermont Council on Rural Development ➠ Bonnie Waninger, Vermont League of Cities and Towns ➠ Brian Cali, Reading Energy Committee ➠ Stephanie Moffett Hynds, Chair of the Arlington Energy Committee
A4: Community Engagement, Outreach, and Communications Skills
Whether it’s for a specific event or the ongoing work of your committee, engagement with your community is key to long term success. Join this workshop to review tips, tools, and best practices from the Vermont Community Leadership Guide and communities across the state. Leave with practical ideas for inviting the public, engaging with community members, and making it fun!
PRESENTERS: ➠ Laura Cavin Bailey, Vermont Council on Rural Development ➠ Andrew Westgate, Vermont State University ➠ Middlebury College Student Presentation
Join us for an engaging discussion on how we can build high quality, energy efficient housing that meets the needs of Vermonters, while also advancing smart growth development principles that will save money, improve public health and cut carbon over time. In this session, hear about tested approaches and key strategies to get far more energy efficient housing built. Also, get an overview of key strategies to ensure Vermont supports new and needed housing in the right locations in our communities, what a new law (Act 181) means for housing development in Vermont.
Vermont has long leaned into solar, helping thousands of Vermont households and businesses cut costs and carbon. Unfortunately, the state has significantly stepped back its commitment to solar and, worse, the new federal administration has taken a sledgehammer to incentives and other programs that make clean power, like solar, more affordable and accessible. Thankfully, solar opportunities remain. In this session, hear from experts on the policy landscape (and potential opportunities) for solar, as well as dive into promising initiatives – like small, portable solar and vertical agri-voltaic applications. Join this session to get ideas about – and offer your insights into – how to continue to harness the unparalleled power of the sun.
PRESENTERS: ➠ Senator Anne Watson, Chair of Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee ➠ Ben Edgerly Walsh, Vermont Public Interest Research Group ➠ Troy McBride, Norwich Technologies
B2: Helping Vermonters Navigate Clean Energy Projects
Clean energy and energy efficiency projects often involve numerous steps and complex decisions, which can make the process difficult for many customers to navigate. This session will explore the current landscape of resources available to support residential, municipal, and business customers, identify where gaps exist, and discuss opportunities to strengthen that support. You’ll also hear about two innovative models that are helping bridge these gaps and guide customers through every stage of their energy efficiency journey—from initial planning to project completion.
How can energy committees use partnerships to advance energy and climate action goals in their communities? This session will explore a variety of regional partnership models to increase impact and success, including partnerships between energy committees and their regional planning commission, and partnerships between energy committees and other regional organizations and academic institutions.
PRESENTERS: ➠ Harry Falconer, Two-Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission ➠ Miranda Dupre, Vital Communities ➠ Erich Osterberg, Dartmouth College
Cutting climate pollution in the transportation sector — which equates to almost 40% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions — requires both short- and long-term strategies. In this workshop, get an update on the opportunities (and challenges) for continuing to help Vermonters access and benefit from more cost-saving electric vehicles. Also, get insights on — and tips for — expanding or readying for community-based solutions that provide options other than a car to get people where they need to go.
Come learn about the Resilience Hub Toolkit—a guide of best practices for disaster response and building climate resilience—compiled by grassroots flood responders. We’ll discuss components of resilience; engage with an assessment of readiness and resilience you can use in your community; and identify entry points for building systems of safety, response, and care for the long run because nobody’s coming to save us.
PRESENTER: ➠ Lena Greenberg, Community Resilience Organizations ➠ Rhizome Cottiss, Community Resilience Organizations ➠ Chris Siegrist, Community Resilience Organizations
