Last Friday, the Public Service Board approved Green Mountain Power’s plan to pay out $20.9 million to former Central Vermont Public Service customers over the next four years.
Those funds are placed into the GMP’s Clean Energy and Efficiency Development, or CEED, Fund for residential and business retrofits, farm programs, renewable energy projects, weatherization upgrades and emerging technologies.
The board approved the company’s proposed plan, including a separate order for a one-year extension to pay out $2 million for thermal efficiency upgrades. For more on the ins and outs of how that $21 million will be spent, click here.
The CEED Fund was created by a $21 million windfall, when GMP’s Canadian parent company Gaz Metro bought CVPS in 2012.
The Public Service Board previously allowed CVPS to increase power rates to stave off bankruptcy. But this was done so with the stipulation that if CVPS were sold for higher than book value, the windfall would be shared with those customers that bailed out the utility.
What to do with the windfall was a major issue of contention last legislative session. Many legislators and groups, like the AARP, demanded that Gaz Metro pay the windfall back to CVPS customers in cash. The AARP estimated that GMP owed average households $76 each.
GMP representatives say the CEED Fund is a better deal for ratepayers, estimating that the $21 million in energy efficiency investments will create $53.2 million in gross societal benefits by the end of 2017, when its programs run their course.
“We’re coming up with programs that will have significant value for former CVPS customers,” said GMP spokeswoman Dotty Schnurer. “We’ve got good programs, and the conditions the board placed are not a problem.
Chris Recchia; commissioner of the Public Service Department, which represented the public in the CEED Fund application process; said his department supports the initiative.
“We believe the plan does do what it intends to do,” he said. “I’m pleased with the return that I think people will be seeing as a result of this investment.”
