The hydroelectric dam on the Green River Reservoir will not be dismantled under a deal that settles a decade-long regulatory dispute, meaning the popular Hyde Park waterway and surrounding state park will remain intact for the forseeable future.
State regulators, environmental groups and the utility that owns the dam have settled — for now — a complex legal dispute that threatened the dam.
“This agreement shows what’s possible when we do the hard work to find common ground,” Gov. Phil Scott said Wednesday
The deal calls for the dam’s owner, Morrisville Water & Light, to withdraw its request to decommission the structure, which could have led to its removal and drained the reservoir. In exchange, the state regulators and environmental groups have agreed to reconsider the water-quality regulations imposed on the dam’s operations in 2016.
Among the restrictions: Instead of being able to draw the reservoir down 10 feet in the winter to generate power, regulators required a limit of just 18 inches.
The utility fought back, suing the state in court, and, when that failed, taking their case to federal energy regulators, which dragged the issue out for years. In 2024, the utility told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission it intended to give up its license to operate the dam. The utility argued the rules made operating it too expensive.
Morrisville officials said that if the state wanted to keep the dam intact to preserve the popular Green River State Park, it was willing to transfer ownership to Vermont.
Vermont could have faced upgrades and maintenance that would cost millions of dollars. Gov. Scott urged Natural Resources Secretary Julie Moore to find another solution.
An independent study helped break the impasse, according to Scott Johnston, the manager of the Morrisville utility. That study confirmed the utility truly couldn’t operate the dam economically under the new water-quality rules. It also outlined the steep costs of decommissioning the dam.
“Today is a very good day because we have a path forward,” Johnstone said.
“This is a big milestone because we will stop arguing and start making progress,” Moore said.
As part of the agreement, the utility will begin making upgrades to two of its other dams, Cadys Falls and Morrisville, both on the Lamoille River.
Revisiting the state’s water-quality rules will take a little longer. ANR agreed that by 2029, it will complete a public process to review its rules about how utilities can draw down water in reservoirs for power generation. Dramatic increases and decreases in water levels can harm shoreline ecosystems, so ANR will have to be very careful about any rule changes, Moore said.
If it does enable the dam operate more economically, the utility could reapply for a new operating permit.
If it can’t, it still has the right to give up operation of the dam or transfer it to another organization, Moore noted.
“We are making no promises about the outcome of that process,” she said.
Jon Groveman, the water program director for the Vermont Natural Resources Council, said he’s not sure there would be a way to craft a set of water-quality rules that better balance the needs for both clean water and clean energy.
“I don’t think anybody knows, but we are willing to discuss it,” Groveman said.
Two other organizations that signed onto the settlement were Trout Unlimited, which advocated for healthy fish habitat, and American Whitewater, which wanted to continue water releases for kayakers.
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