Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Gerry Silverstein, who lives in S. Burlington.
The Vermont stage has a new play. The cast includes the Governor, the Legislature, the Department of Public Service (DPS), the Public Service Board (PSB), three Energy Utilities (GMP, CVPS and Vermont Gas Systems, aka VGS), Ratepayers (aka citizens) and a Wizard (aka Gaz Metro) who lives in a (not so) far away land called Canada.
As the curtain rises on Act 1 we learn that the plot centers on the Wizard wanting to bring eternal bliss to the Kingdom of Vermont by joining together one member of his family (GMP) that moves electrons with another electron mover in Vermont (CVPS).
The Governor and the CEO of GMP (who also plans special events for the Governor) thinks the marriage is a great idea. One of the Wizard’s other family members is VGS that has been providing small gas molecules to 45,000 Vermonters for a long time.
The Governor and his spokesperson, the DPS, have been so happy with the Wizard and VGS that they encouraged the PSB to grant permission to VGS to retain (permanently) a legally mandated refund of $88 million over 20 years owed to 45,000 current VGS customers so that 3,000 new customers in Addison County can have access to the small gas molecules that VGS distributes.
One disagreeable citizen complains that the PSB order (#7712) means that over 20 years 15 average customers in Chittenden and Franklin counties, including Vermonters with incomes below the poverty line, are going to be forced to contribute (in aggregate) between $19,000 and $29,000 so that one new customer in Addison County can heat their home with natural gas, with all dollar profits going to the Wizard.
The disloyal citizen grumbles that the Wizard’s greatest magic is making Vermonters’ hard-earned dollars disappear and then reappear in Canada.
Some in the Legislature, and one member of the PSB, also complain that the Wizard already has lots and lots (and lots) of money, so why are Vermont citizens subsidizing an expansion in which the Wizard keeps all the profits.
The Chief of the DPS dismisses the objections of those opposed to the expansion’s financing by saying that the expansion is a public good. Another disloyal citizen mumbles that the fact that a reverse Robin Hood syndrome may be occurring with low-income Vermonters subsidizing the expansion and all profits going to the wizard represents a most unusual definition of a public good.
In Act 2, we see that the marriage between GMP and CVPS has hit a Vermont pothole. Many in the Legislature think corporate trickery is on the loose when they discover that the soon-to-be-married couple will refuse to repay in cash money one of them (CVPS) needed to obtain from its customers during financial hard times.
The newlyweds would rather donate the money to a cause that the Governor’s supporters think highly of, and then require that 250,000 customers in the newly merged company pay for the newlywed’s entire donation. Some current GMP customers grumble that they will be forced to pay for debt obligations of a company they were never part of, while the Wizard becomes even richer.
In Act 3, we see an all-out effort by the Governor, the GMP CEO, and the DPS to ensure the marriage happens. The Governor issues a royal decree stating the Legislature should not meddle in affairs of state even though legislators represent citizens (aka ratepayers) who reside in a (representative) democracy.
The GMP CEO issues her own proclamation saying the marriage is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and extraordinary financial benefits will come to Vermonters if they put their trust in the Governor, the DPS, the PSB, and of course the Wizard and members of his family. The scene ends with one disloyal citizen muttering: “Didn’t Bernie Madoff make similar promises to his investors?”
Act 4 will follow after a short intermission.
