According the to Vermont Sierra Club's Steve Crowley, the Draft Electric Plan for Vermont could send customers on a roller coaster ride of electric rates.
Crowley points to a "small" Adjustment Clause in the 250 page document.
Currently, when conditions change the utility will apply for a rate change and the Department of Public Service acts on behalf of Vermont taxpayers to negotiate the new rate.
Under the proposed system, the adjustment clause would replace all of this. Market fluctuations (you remember California?) are passed along to customers without a full Public Service Board review. Rates would shift "unpredictably," says Crowley, making it more difficult to plan well.
The Draft Plan also does not go far enough to invest in stable, sustainable energy solutions "such as wind power, district energy, combined heat and power, and even some sustainably managed biomass." This is a lost opportunity, says the Sierra Club, since we should be planning now for the shutdown of services from Vermont Yankee in 2012 and Hydro Quebec in 2016.
The Vermont Sierra Club suggests the following threefold approach:
1. Dramatically increase efforts for energy efficiency. Lifting the "barrier" between heat and electricity is one legislative accomplishment to pursue.
2. Pursue multiple avenues to develop the renewable energy infrastructure in our state. They suggest a Renewable Energy Standard be developed requiring utilities to increase renewable power in their portfolios. New renewable energy tax credits should be created.
3. Reduce our past reliance, and avoid future reliance, on outmoded and polluting sources. As historic power sources like VY and HydroQuebec are replaced, Vermont can choose to purchase more dirty power or can lead the way with renewable alternatives.
The choice is ours. The Sierra Club feels the Draft Electric Plan, as it is currently written, will open the door to things getting worse fast.
Here is the pdf file of the Draft Electric Plan from the Department of Public Works web site.
The Vermont Sierra Club web site.