SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. — Experts say a large amount of clean hydro-electricity from Canada is available for us in the New England states if ways can be found to bring that power into the country.

At the same time, the growth in locally generated renewable power such as solar and wind is changing the way electricity is distributed to customers.

Those were two themes of a panel discussion given at the Renewable Energy Vermont annual conference Thursday in South Burlington.

Two transmission projects being considered would lay cables beneath Lake Champlain and then bury those cables underground before they are hooked to the regional electric grid. A third proposal, the Northern Pass project in New Hampshire, would see a small portion buried, but much of it is still proposed as an above-ground system.