On Sept. 2, David Rosowsky, UVM Provost, joined with Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, Mary Powell, CEO of Green Mountain Power, and David Crane, CEO of NRG Energy, Inc. — the largest solar power developer in the U.S. — to announce a new partnership between GMP and NRG pushing Vermont forward on a path toward national leadership in developing and deploying sustainable energy technologies.

At a press conference, in Essex, Vt., Rosowsky spoke about UVM’s own recently launched partnership with GMP, announced last fall, that forms an important dimension to the new GMP/NRG partnership: “Whether it’s modeling advanced distribution grids or studying human behaviors,” Rosowsky said in his remarks to the assembled journalists, elected officials and others, “UVM is here to support, enable and contribute to this extraordinary new initiative."

The GMP/NRG partnership, to begin in 2015, will first focus on developing a sophisticated electricity distribution grid in the city of Rutland through NRG’s expertise in “microgrid” technologies: smaller-scale, distributed energy systems, driven by solar and other renewable power sources. The aim of this smarter microgrid is to be more resilient to threats like major storms, lower in carbon emissions, and affordable to ratepayers. This new partnership will also look statewide with an expanding network of electric vehicle charging stations, community solar arrays and portable power-packs for smartphones.

UVM’s research expertise will help advance all these goals, Rosowsky said, including the work to establish Rutland as “the energy city of the future,” he said, serving as a model to the nation. “University of Vermont stands ready to contribute,” he said. “We are the intellectual and economic engine of the state, creating an educated workforce for creating new technologies and new companies — to create jobs.”