A bill to expand consumer representation in utility decisions is set to be one of the first bills before the House this year, lawmakers say.
The legislation was prompted by complaints two years ago that the Department of Public Service did not adequately advocate for citizens in the 2012 merger of Green Mountain Power and Central Vermont Public Service.
AARP, a membership organization representing 140,000 state residents, urged lawmakers to expand the Department of Public Service’s public advocacy role for under-represented ratepayers and consumers in cases before the quasi-judicial Public Service Board at a news conference Monday at the Statehouse.
S.25, a bill amending board procedures to provide residential, low-income and small business consumers representation before the board, cruised through the Senate last year. It was sponsored by Sen. Bob Hartwell, D-Bennington, who is a member of the Finance Committee.
“I introduced this bill about a year ago because I felt that the department wasn’t really focused on the ratepayers it should be focused on. It had a lot of history of utility presence, if you will, and I felt that we could do better,” Hartwell said. “We’re looking for more definitive advocacy of these people going forward.”
The Department of Public Service – a branch of the administration – is charged with representing the public before the board during proceedings such as utility rate cases. The bill would explicitly require the department to advocate for a broader range of consumers, a measure the department supports, DPS Commissioner Chris Recchia said.
“This bill strengthens the consumer voice in the process, that’s what it does,” said Greg Marchildon, state director for AARP Vermont.
Marchildon said corporations have the resources to present their own cases before the board, “but not the little guy and not small communities and not small business owners who are going to need the department to be their primary voice.”
The bill allows electronic filing in PSB cases and increases state representation before Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in cases affecting regional and state ratepayers. The bill also calls for a summer report, submitted by the department, detailing how the department would represent these consumers and how their interests have been represented in previous board proceedings.
The bill has the support of House Speaker Shap Smith, D-Morrisville, who affirmed its near certain passage this session. He said the bill ensures that all Vermonters are represented before the board.
“They [the Department of Public Service] effectively represent the broader public, but when there are questions about whether it is effectively representing everyone, I think it is important for us to ensure the confidence of our citizenry that everyone is being represented – and this bill does that,” Smith said. “It ensures there is a focus not only on those who already represent themselves, but for those Vermonters who do not have the resources to represent themselves in the Public Service Board proceedings.”
The bill will begin the year in the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development. Committee Chair Bill Botzow, D-Bennington, is prepared to introduce the bill after the Legislature reconvenes Tuesday.
The bill was voted out of House Commerce and Economic Development (the vote was 9-0-2) at the very end of the 2013 session, but was not taken up on the House floor. The bill is on notice in the House, and a second reading of the bill will take place on the House floor Wednesday.
“When you represent people, you need the tools to do a good job,” Botzow said. “When you put this all together, it’s not only about who do you serve, but how you can better serve them.”
AARP has been in previous board quarrels with Green Mountain Power and Central Vermont Public Service. AARP requested the utilities – whose later merger was approved by the board – to pay ratepayers $21 million as a return for a 1990 bailout on part of CVPS as a condition of their merger. AARP did not to appeal the board’s decision granting the merger to the Vermont Supreme Court.
GMP later placed the $21 million into its Clean Energy and Efficiency Development (CEED) Fund for energy efficiency programs – such as residential and business retrofits, farm programs, renewable energy projects, weatherization upgrades and emerging technologies – in collaboration with Efficiency Vermont, Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network, Vermont Fuel Dealers Association and Vermont Energy Investment Corp.
Marchildon, of AARP Vermont, said the non-partisan advocacy group has been involved in nearly a dozen board proceedings. This bill would allow the organization to focus less on legal representation and instead work on grassroots campaigns, he said.
Hartwell is also sponsoring two other bills expanding the department’s public advocacy role. These bills will not be necessary with the passage of S.25, he said.
Correction: We originally wrote that S.25 would be introduced today; it is up for second reading in the House on Wednesday.
