On a crisp fall day, Pam Ladds stands in the basement of what just might be the oldest house standing in Newport. It’s a former stagecoach inn, built in 1820.
She primarily heats her home with wood and uses a fossil fuel furnace as a backup heat source. She also has an electric hot water heater.
Right now, if Ladds wanted to install a cold climate heat pump or electric vehicle charger, she couldn’t because of her electric panel.
“This is just 100 amps, which is not enough for a heat pump,” Ladds said gesturing to the gray metal box containing tidy rows of switches.
Electric panels play an often overlooked role in electrification. While they may not look like much, they’re the beating heart of a home’s electrical system.
An electric panel is a bit like the interstate of a home’s wiring system. It’s the lanes on the highway, and it’s what keeps all the electrons that power your lights and home appliances moving consistently and at the right speed, in a way that’s safe.
In many cases, a 100-amp panel and meter like Ladds’ just isn’t enough “interstate lanes” to fully electrify a home, at least not without some strategic planning.
This presents a challenge for Vermont in its efforts to cut climate warming greenhouse gas emissions on the timelines it has committed to by law, under the state’s Global Warming Solutions Act.
Replacing fossil fuel appliances with electric ones, then powering those appliances with renewable energy, is widely viewed as an important strategy for fighting climate change.
Studies have found that high-efficiency electric appliances are less polluting than fossil fuel alternatives, but replacing fossil fuel appliances with electric ones is likely to add to a home’s electric load.
For many older homes, like Ladds’, a beefier electric system is needed before swapping in more efficient appliances.
“I can live without a heat pump,” she said. “But I’ve also been in buildings where they work really well, so I understand why people would choose them. But it would cost us thousands to upgrade here.”
State and federal subsidies exist for electric appliances, but historically, there haven’t been subsidies to help pay for electric system upgrades — unless you were installing a new appliance at the same time. Homeowners were expected to shoulder the burden alone.
Now, for the first time ever, Vermont is offering financial incentives to upgrade electric panels — something that could help far more people access more efficient heating and transportation technology.
Outdated panels
Outdated or even unsafe panels are something master electrician Grace Kahn of Village Voltage sees a lot of in Vermont.
“This is a conversation that I have every day with somebody,” she said.
Khan says the conversation often starts when someone wants to switch a fossil fuel appliance over to an electric alternative — like a heat pump.
Khan says you can think of the electrical service wire to your house and its capacity as the trunk of the tree for your electrical system, with all the switches and circuits in your panel being branches of the tree.
This is a conversation that I have every day with somebody.Grace Kahn, electrician
And as more appliances are run with electricity instead of fossil fuels, you need thicker wires — beefier infrastructure in that tree trunk — to handle the heat that comes with that extra power, and likely more branches on the tree. For context, most new homes are built with twice the capacity that Ladds’ panel and meter have — at 200 amps.
Upgrading an electric panel costs upwards of $3,500 and often as much as $7,000 — a steep price for the average household.
“Everything's just going to be bigger and able to handle more heat, and so that you know the extra load and draw that you're putting on your house is not causing a fire in your meter, in your panel, because those are the things that do happen when you draw too much,” Khan said.
New subsidies
After Vermont saw historic flooding in 2023 and 2024, Efficiency Vermont launched a pilot program to update electric panels and meters in low- and moderate-income homes that were flooded.
This fall, they opened the program to all low-income households in the state. Right now, people who qualify can essentially get upgraded to a 200-amp panel for free — at up to $10,000 in subsidies. Moderate-income households in the state can get up to 90% of a panel upgrade paid for.
Find details about eligibility here.
Burlington Electric Department, Vermont Gas Systems and Green Mountain Power customers should contact their respective utility for more information about how to apply.
“I do think the electric panel upgrade is really going to be an incredibly meaningful opportunity for those that it has a direct opportunity to help,” said Peter Walke, who leads Efficiency Vermont.
The program is thanks to $10.5 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act that Efficiency Vermont and other efficiency utilities received.
We have not yet met the full need. It’s pretty significant progress, but we need a lot more and we need to move at pace.Peter Walke, Efficiency Vermont
Walke says the flexibility that ARPA affords states in designing their own programs made it possible for Vermont to create its first-ever subsidy for electric panel upgrades.
It’s not clear how many homes in Vermont might require this kind of work to electrify their home heat or cars.
Utilities don’t track the status of people’s home wiring. Nor do state regulators, or the federal government. In fact, it’s unclear how many homes nationwide might need new electric panels as the country electrifies.
The climate think tank Pecan Street, which does independent data analysis about consumer behavior and lower carbon technology, estimates some 48 million homes nationwide may require panel upgrades or other solutions to fully electrify.
In Vermont and New England — which has some of the oldest housing stock in the country — it’s likely that many, if not most, homes will require these upgrades.
“We have not yet met the full need,” said Walke, with Efficiency Vermont. “It’s pretty significant progress, but we need a lot more and we need to move at pace.”
Incremental changes
Because of the cost, a full electric system upgrade may not be possible for every household that could benefit from one. However, with some planning, smaller homes may be able to electrify many of their fossil fuel appliances with some clever electrical fixes.
“I typically think about it more as managing a budget,” said Amanda Sachs, with Rewiring America, a national nonprofit that provides tools to help people electrify their homes. “Instead of increasing the budget, maybe you want to optimize spending, which would in this case be your electric usage.”
Sachs says technologies like smart splitters, which can help you add one more appliance to a panel that’s close to being maxed out, or power smart EV chargers, which charge an electric car when other appliances are not running, can be good options. Maximizing your home’s efficiency through weatherization and buying high efficiency appliances can also help.
Sachs says workarounds like these can help people electrify incrementally as they can afford to, and can be great solutions in condominiums or apartment complexes.
There’s the additional benefit that using a smaller panel and service line limits how much electricity you can use, which is also critical for saving the planet.
However, for some older homes, like ones with a 60-amp panel, an upgrade is often the only option, and many policy experts and electricians say that if you are going to upgrade your service, upgrading to 200 amps is the best, most future-proof course of action. It’s not much more costly than 150 amps and will make it much easier to electrify.
If you don’t qualify for a free or subsidized panel upgrade through Efficiency Vermont, you can still get a $600 tax credit from the federal government. And an electrician can help you space the work out over time, as you can afford to do it. Additionally, efficiency utilities around the state can connect customers of all income levels with low- or no-interest loan programs from local credit unions for projects like a panel upgrade.
Lastly — Kahn, the electrician, has a word of caution for Vermonters who are used to doing their own home repairs: A panel and box upgrade is not the project to do yourself.
“We find a lot of like, hairy, homeowner wacky wiring situations,” she said. “Having it done right the first time is worth paying."
And while paying an electrician to do an electric panel upgrade may sound less sexy than getting a heat pump or a car charger, it could be the key that opens the door to going electric — and knowing your home is safe as you do it.
Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message.
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