REGION – As 2025 draws to a close, many Vermonters are facing uncertainty and rising costs. When budgets are tight, projects that improve comfort and reduce energy bills may feel out of reach. Recognizing that households and businesses are feeling stretched, Efficiency Vermont has gathered a collection of free resources, practical tools, and affordable projects that can help Vermonters begin to improve their homes and get more from their energy budget.

Do you want to understand what’s driving your electricity costs? Try our electricity usage calculator to see how your energy bill adds up with your appliances, lighting, and other needs, and see where you can save.

Do you need to diagnose the cause of high energy bills? Call Efficiency Vermont’s energy advisors to see how your home is using energy, understand what equipment could be wasting money, and learn about services and rebates that can help you reduce costs.

Looking for a deep dive into ways your home can save energy? Schedule a free virtual home energy visit, and take a virtual tour of your home with an Efficiency Vermont energy consultant. Get personalized advice for using less energy at home, plus a customized list of next steps tailored to your needs and priorities.

Get $100 back for a do-it-yourself (DIY) weatherization project. Use our $100 DIY weatherization rebate to get cash back for completing simple projects like air sealing windows or adding weather stripping.

Businesses, nonprofits, and other commercial operations can also take advantage of helpful resources and rebates, such as those listed below.

Free business energy consultations – Understand where your business is losing energy, and what you can do to fix it, through a business energy consultation. Our energy advisors can help you identify cost-effective opportunities, find efficient equipment, and connect you with our Efficiency Excellence Network of contractors.

Up to $25,000 in bonus rebates for custom projects – Businesses can double their incentive, up to $25,000, for custom projects tailored to an operation’s specific needs. These bonuses are available for businesses, nonprofits, farm operations, and institutions that complete projects by November 2026.

Increased incentives for preapproved lighting projects – Businesses that switch to energy-saving LED lamps can get up to 100% of the product costs covered when they replace existing linear fluorescent lamps. Agricultural businesses upgrading to LEDs in livestock or sugaring facilities can get up to 100% of project costs covered.

Efficiency Vermont’s 2025 holiday gift guide also offers inspiration for sustainable, local, and fun holiday shopping. The guide has a collection of thoughtful gifts and experiences, including ways to donate previously used items, implement energy savings, give the gift of rebate-eligible appliances, and support local businesses.

Federal home energy tax credits expire at the end of December, but Efficiency Vermont’s rebates and programs will remain available in 2026 and beyond. Whether you’re just starting to think about energy efficiency, or you’re ready to begin a project, visit www.efficiencyvermont.com/rebates to find ways to meet your energy goals.

This commentary is by Michael Gaughan, the executive director of the Vermont Bond Bank, and Katy Hansen, the director of the Rural and Small Cities Program at the Public Finance Initiative.

Vermont municipalities face a stark reality. The federal support that communities have relied on after disasters may be dramatically reduced in future years. The public will soon see the FEMA Review Council report, which is expected to recommend shifting more disaster response costs to states while also raising the dollar threshold for what qualifies as a federal disaster. Vermont is already confronting this reality with the recent denial of the July 2025 disaster declaration and the related on-again off-again funding for core infrastructure resilience programs.

For a state that has experienced over $240 million in FEMA related municipal damages from flooding in the past three years, the potential reduction in federal support threatens the fiscal and physical structures that undergird our communities. This is a staggering number, representing more than 30% of the Vermont Bond Bank’s current municipal loans, which obscures the threat to individual towns where disaster costs can be overwhelming. Take, for instance, towns such as Lyndon, where an estimated $18 million in damages occurred in 2024, roughly six times the town’s highway budget.