Vermont’s state government is failing to meet and monitor its own longstanding goals to formally reduce the amount of energy the state consumes — laws and systems aimed both at reducing cost and impact on the environment — according to a recent report from the State Auditor’s Office.

At the center of auditor Doug Hoffer’s report are the shortcomings of two initiatives: the State Agency Energy Plan, which is an evolving document providing guidance since 1992 for state agencies to reduce energy consumption in government work, and the State Energy Management Program, which is run by the Department of Buildings and General Services to implement these energy efficiency projects in state buildings.

The Department of Buildings and General Services has not been measuring the state’s progress in meeting the goals outlined by the State Agency Energy Plan, despite its requirement to report on it every two years, as the auditor’s report outlined.

It has no system to quantify how much transportation fuel state employees use and how much energy the state uses in the buildings it leases, and no established way to capture all the energy used across state buildings, Hoffer’s report cites.

Moreover, the auditor’s report found two instances where the BGS energy office actually lost money, rather than achieving energy efficiency savings with its project.

One lighting project the auditor cited at the Barre Courthouse cost $143,170 more than it is expected to save over the course of its lifetime, according to estimates by Efficiency Vermont, an organization that contracts with the state and aims to reduce energy use and cost — though the department’s internal estimates reported it would cost $72,749 more than it saved.

A second lighting project, at the government office building at 133 State St. in Montpelier, will cost $550,687 more than its expected lifetime savings, the auditor’s report found, again highlighting a difference in its calculations and the department’s. The department originally stated the project would save more than $303,000 because it was partially paid for with funds from outside the State Energy Management Program.

It’s part of a broader trend the auditor describes of miscalculation at the department. The Auditor’s Office compared Efficiency Vermont’s estimates of lifetime savings for 13 projects and found that the Department of Buildings and General Services overestimated savings by more than $1,666,500.

Moreover, the program may be leaving money on the table by not seeking out as many cost-saving projects as it historically has, the auditor report claims. Normally the program completes around five projects a year, the report cites, but over the last three fiscal years, that number has been only one or two a year.

It’s likely due to staffing shortages, the auditor wrote. One or both of the energy project manager positions have been vacant since 2021, he noted. It’s likely not due to any shortage in potential projects, of which the program has identified more than 50, through energy audits from 2016 through 2024. Of those, the department only completed 15.

The auditor concluded with a series of recommendations to address these shortfalls, including that the department adhere to the reporting requirements and develop a system for tracking energy use. Hoffer’s report also calls for the department to scale up the number of projects it does and for more coordination with Efficiency Vermont.

Wanda Minoli, the commissioner of the Department of Buildings and General Services, responded to Hoffer’s findings in a letter added to the report. Minoli agreed with nearly all of Hoffer’s findings and offered a timeline for the department to implement the recommendations the report outlines.

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This story was originally published by VTDigger and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.