The Vermont Low Income Trust for Electricity (VLITE) received roughly 50 applications for three seats on the Vermont Electric Power Co. (VELCO) board, according to Department of Public Service Deputy Commissioner Sarah Hofmann.
VLITE is a nonprofit public benefit corporation that was created earlier this year as part of the merger between Green Mountain Power and Central Vermont Public Service. Its primary function is to choose three directors to sit on the VELCO board, which oversees the maintenance of Vermont’s transmission grid, and use dividends from its 38 percent ownership of VELCO stock to create projects that align with the Vermont Comprehensive Energy Plan.
While there are a total of 10 other VELCO directors, Hofmann said that the three directors chosen by VLITE would be different, as they’re supposed to represent the public’s interest instead of a utility’s.
VLITE’s seven board members (see full list below) are charged with selecting the candidates. VLITE President Dick Marron said the board hopes to narrow the selection by Halloween.
Candidates will be evaluated based on their technical, governance and financial skill sets, according to VLITE’s request for applicants.
Hofmann, who is helping to administer the application process, said that the VLITE board members have their work cut out for them.
“The VLITE board has a great pool of applicants and a very tough decision to make,” she said.
One of those applicants is Rep. Cynthia Browning, D-Arlington. Browning says she believes that with her background — a Ph.D. in economics —- she’d be a strong, financially minded addition to the team.
The VLITE board meets next on Sept. 24 at 3 p.m. in the Department of Labor building in Montpelier.
Marron said the selection process would likely occur behind closed doors in executive session.
VLITE board members
• Chuck Ross, Secretary of Agriculture
• Annie Noonan, Commissioner of Labor
• Pat Moulton-Powden, Deputy Secretary of Commerce
• Hal Cohen, director of Central Vermont Community Action Council
• Scott Johnstone, director of Vermont Energy Investment Corp.
• Dick Marron, vice chair of Stowe Electric Department
• Richard Rubin, board member for Washington Electric Co-op
