After years of enjoying some of the lowest power rates in the state, Swanton Electric Department is asking state regulators for permission to raise electric rates by 30%.
“We are empathetic,” said village manager Bill Sheets of the impact to ratepayers. “This keeps me up at night. It makes me sick to my stomach when I see the difference between what we were once able to produce and what lies ahead.”
Much of the proposed rate increase, Sheets says, is due to a 25- to 30-foot rip in the rubber wall that holds water back above a critical hydroelectric dam Swanton owns.
Swanton has kept rates low over the years, even as other municipal utilities saw their rates increase, by generating about 80% of the power its roughly 4,000 customers use at its hydroelectric facility on the Missisquoi River at Highgate Falls.
The dam pools water behind a rubber bladder and releases it through turbines to generate carbon-free electricity. The power generated there is particularly valuable because it’s available at times when demand for electricity in the region is high and many other renewable resources aren’t producing.
Swanton’s ability to generate extra power at these times lets the utility sell that renewable electricity into the regional marketplace at a premium, offsetting costs for locals.
“That ability for us to produce our own power for our customers without having to go out onto the open market, which is increasingly problematic and expensive, is a game changer,” Sheets said.
However, since the dam’s bladder ruptured in the summer of 2025, Sheets says the facility has often had to operate at less than half its usual capacity.
“When we do not have the rain, it is far less,” Sheets said. “When we are in drought conditions, generation can be almost zero.”
That’s forced the utility to purchase more wholesale power from the ISO-New England marketplace, exposing its customers to more price volatility and expense. The rip has lowered the water level above the facility by about 15 feet.
The bladder was also critical to the dam’s ability to operate seasonally as a “peaking” facility, where dam operators would drop the water level by 1 to 2 feet to meet high demand.
According to documents filed with the Public Utility Commission, Swanton Electric expects that without a functional bladder, the Highgate Falls dam is producing about 10,000 MWhs less electricity each year.
Sheets, the village manager, says that’s costing the utility millions of dollars a year.
Swanton Electric is looking for ways to temporarily raise the height of the dam closer to its original height with the bladder, which the utility told regulators would restore about half of its lost operating capacity. Swanton estimates this could be achieved for about $1 million and could be in place by late fall of this year.
In the long term, Sheets says the town would like to restore the dam to its prior height, though federal regulators have signaled they won’t allow the town to do that with a rubber bladder any longer.
Alternatives to a bladder include installing new concrete gates or a series of smaller bladders, and Swanton Electric says it’s not yet clear how much that would cost.
The bladder issue is further complicating the federal relicensing process for the dam, which was underway when the rupture happened and will likely now be delayed.
Sheets said Swanton is committed to trying to fix the dam.
“This hydroelectric facility has been, is and will be in the future a powerful addition to our portfolio,” he said. “We’re always looking for additional solutions, whether it’s solar, battery. But the way that we’re currently situated, the most impactful thing for our ratepayers is the restoration, to some degree, of our hydroelectric facility.”
In the meantime, Swanton Electric customers will see a 30% rate increase on their bills effective May 1.
"An increase in the electricity as well and that high of a jump all at once will make it nearly impossible to afford to live here anymore."Ryan Cote, Swanton Electric ratepayer
Sheets says he expects that this rate increase may reflect a “new normal.”
In comments filed with the Public Utility Commission, customers said the hike was beyond what they could afford and asked regulators to push their utility to phase the rate increase over the next three years.
“It is already difficult where I live to survive winter with the need to buy oil/fuel to heat the home,” wrote Ryan Cote. “An increase in the electricity as well and that high of a jump all at once will make it nearly impossible to afford to live here anymore.”
The Public Service Department has yet to weigh in on the bid and declined to comment.
