A major player among Vermont Democrats, former House Majority Leader Lucy Leriche, is taking a tour in the utility world.
Leriche announced in May she would not run for re-election in November.
Her next stop will be Green Mountain Power — what will be the state’s largest utility when it finalizes a merger with Central Vermont Public Service Corp.
Leriche will work as an outreach coordinator for the Kingdom Community Wind project in Lowell, said Robert Dostis, former chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources and Energy, who also works at Green Mountain Power as leader of External Affairs & Customer Relations.
“I’m thrilled that we have her,” he said.
Leriche’s job with Green Mountain Power is a temporary position for up to six months.
“For us, she’s the perfect person,” Dostis said. “She knows the area, and she knows the people.”
Leriche was not available for comment Wednesday.
On Tuesday, she told the Vermont Press Bureau she will be “working with towns to coordinate transportation routes and make sure transportation of the equipment goes smoothly and if anything should arise be there to help get problems solved and make sure things get ironed out.”
Leriche is from Hardwick. She has held a House seat in that district since 2004.
Leriche will work on issues that arise in the transportation of turbines for the wind project. Starting in mid-July, the company will begin to transport the turbines to Lowell.
“She’ll be mostly managing community outreach as it pertains to turbine transport,” Dostis said.
That means letting communities know when the machinery will be coming through and nipping any potential issues in the bud.
Leriche will not be the first person to transition from the Statehouse to GMP.
Her predecessor, David Coriell, was a spokesman for former Gov. Jim Douglas during his last term.
Neale Lunderville, Douglas’ secretary of administration, worked for Green Mountain Power before shifting to the Shumlin administration as Irene recovery officer.
Both the wind project in Lowell, what will be the largest in the state, and the utility’s merger with CVPS have become hot-button political issues inside and outside the Legislature.
Leriche, along with most Democrats in the House, voted against bills that would have disallowed the utilities from recouping $21 million in “windfall” money in rates once they invest it in weatherization projects. She also voted against a bill that would have allowed an investigation of state ownership of the state’s electric transmission system.
Once the two utilities merge, the new Green Mountain Power will have a majority interest in that system, although safeguards agreed to by the utilities will prevent the private owners from making unilateral decisions affecting the system.
