IIIEE Theses 2017:34 Small and steady: The role of the town energy committees in the energy transition in Vermont Carmen Valache Supervisors: Tareq Emtairah Ralph Meima Thesis for the fulfilment of the Master of Science in Environmental Management and Policy Lund, Sweden, September 2017 © You may use the contents of the IIIEE publications for informational purposes only. You may not copy, lend, hire, transmit or redistribute these materials for commercial purposes or for compensation of any kind without written permission from IIIEE. When using IIIEE material you must include the following copyright notice: ‘Copyright © Carmen Valache, IIIEE, Lund University. All rights reserved’ in any copy that you make in a clearly visible position. You may not modify the materials without the permission of the author. Published in 2017 by IIIEE, Lund University, P.O. Box 196, S-221 00 LUND, Sweden, Tel: +46 – 46 222 02 00, Fax: +46 – 46 222 02 10, e-mail:
[email protected]. ISSN 1401-9191 IIIEE Theses 2017:34 Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank all the wonderful people in Vermont who generously granted me their time and answered my numerous questions about their home state. To the volunteers on the energy committees, in particular, a big thank you. You are a source of inspiration and I humbly admit that this thesis is a very imperfect approximation of the complex reality you work with, and fails to encapsulate the energy, drive and passion that you clearly put into your work. Ralph Meima, I am forever grateful for enabling me to have this eye-opening experience.