On paper, Vermont boasts one of the cleanest electric grids in the country. About 66% of the state’s electricity came from renewables in 2019. The state’s Renewable Energy Standard requires utilities to get to at least 75% renewables by 2032, including wind, solar, biomass and hydropower. But critics say the problem is that a huge portion of power is from out-of-state hydropower.
Currently, about 50% of Vermont’s electricity is tied to HydroQuebec’s massive hydropower operations north of the border. But environmentalists say the state is greenwashing power that has resulted in catastrophic damage to ecosystems, significant releases of carbon emissions from submerged trees and the displacement of indigenous communities in northern Quebec. HydroQuebec’s 550 dikes and dams have destroyed 3.8 million acres of native lands across Quebec.
Scientists and experts are critical of counting HydroQuebec power as a renewable source because it comes at an enormous price. Shallow reservoirs that cover vast woodland areas can be extremely dirty from a carbon emissions point of view. That’s because when a dam is first constructed large areas of land are flooded, and trees that once captured carbon start to decompose under the water, releasing carbon into the atmosphere.
As these underwater forests decay, carbon continues to be emitted into the atmosphere, HydroQuebec says it takes a tree 10 years to decay while researchers feel more realistic numbers are between 30 and 50 years to remove the carbon stored in water logged trees. A newly constructed dam emits more greenhouse gasses than a 100-year old dam.
Beyond greenhouse gas emissions, there are other environmental and human impacts associated with flooding thousands of acres of land to create large hydro projects. The reservoirs made it impossible for Tribes to continue traditional hunting and fishing practices, such as following sturgeon up river during the spring spawning season. The raising and lowering of the water level triggers a bacterial conversion of mercury turning it into a lethal neurotoxin that is now accumulating in the food chain.