“The exact numbers on that I don’t know because it is literally continuous.”
That’s what Dan Nelson, chief technology officer for the Vermont Electric Power Company, said Tuesday when lawmakers asked how many cyber attacks the utility company faces each year.
Speaking before members of the House Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure on Tuesday, representatives from Vermont’s other major utilities all told a similar story.
“We’ve seen an uptick in activity in recent months targeted at the electrical sector,” said Mark Dincecco, chief technology officer at Green Mountain Power, the state’s largest utility company. “Nothing of consequence, but we do see activity ramping up a bit — more of a yellow alert, not a red alert.”
Who are these intrepid individuals doggedly trying to hack our state’s grid, and what do they want? It’s hard to say.
“It’s not always easy to tell precisely where they’re coming from,” said Dincecco, who noted the vast majority of the threats are simple ‘phishing’ attacks in which hackers use fake emails and messages to try to extract sensitive information from users.
In any case, the firewalls are holding. Since 2019, each of the state’s 17 utilities has been required by law to adopt cybersecurity programs. In the intervening years, officials said Tuesday, utilities have matched the influx in cyberthreats with a slew of policies aimed at strengthening firewalls and locking down the grid.
“I’ve been with the department a bit over three years, and in that time we’ve made a number of substantial upgrades in software, operations, user training, much of which I can’t talk about,” said Erica Ferland, director of information technology at Burlington Electric Department. “But (they’re) good.”
For all the progress Vermont’s utilities have made in neutralizing the threat of Russian bots and North Korean hackers, there are some problems officials are still scratching their heads over.
Here’s something that wasn’t on my threats-to-Vermont’s-electrical-grid bingo card: during hunting season, muzzleloaders apparently like to play target practice with our power lines.
“There’s an attraction to shooting at fiber bundles going across fields or from tower to tower,” Dincecco said. “It’s just random trouble makers, basically, just shooting at things to see if they can hit them.”
— Habib Sabet
In the know
Two Vermont health insurance companies are seeking higher premiums for plans bought on the state marketplace in 2026, requests that come amid rapidly rising health care costs statewide.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont is seeking to raise the cost of its premiums by an average of 23.3% for individual plans and 13.7% for small group plans on the state health insurance exchange next year. MVP, the other insurer that sells on the exchange, is seeking average increases of 6.2% for individual plans and 7.5% for small group plans.
Individual plans cover single Vermonters or families, while small group plans are bought by employers with 100 or fewer people.
Each spring, health insurers ask the Green Mountain Care Board, a state health care regulator, to approve changes to the cost of plans bought on the Vermont insurance marketplace, Vermont Health Connect.
Read more about the requested rate increases here.
— Peter D’Auria
On the Hill
In Washington, D.C., House Republicans plan to gather Tuesday to vote on whether to shred the Inflation Reduction Act, the landmark law that has issued hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy incentives since 2022, as part of President Donald Trump’s new budget proposal.
Meanwhile, in Vermont on Tuesday morning, a state program funded by that very law announced more than $22 million of the state’s total grant of $62.5 million would go to help install solar power on low-income housing in the state.
“Currently towns with the highest energy burden in Vermont have the least amount of installed solar,” Kerrick Johnson, commissioner for the Department of Public Service, which controls the state’s grant, said in a statement. “That’s why the primary objective of this program is to deliver benefits to disadvantaged Vermonters, regardless of their dwelling status.”
Read more on the Inflation Reduction Act here.
— Austyn Gaffney
On the move
The House and Senate will go to a conference committee over S.51, a bill that, in its latest form, expands tax credits and tax exemptions for low-income families, workers and veterans, as well as retirees and people receiving military pensions.
But the House, in developing the legislation, removed a Senate-approved provision creating a tax credit for unpaid caregivers.
The House’s tax credit package would reduce state revenue by more than $13 million. The Senate’s bill would reduce revenue by about $6 million.
Sen. Ann Cummings, D-Washington, said Tuesday that her committee needs to finish the education bill before she can turn her attention to the tax credit package. She said she’s open to the House’s bill, but she’s long been skeptical of providing unique benefits to military retirees over other groups like police officers and firefighters.
— Ethan Weinstein
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