Gov. Peter Shumlin signed a bill Tuesday to expand consumer representation in utility decisions.
The legislation, S.25, 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.
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 law explicitly requires the department to advocate for a broader range of consumers, including residential and business ratepayers.
In addition, the law 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.
AARP, a membership organization that represents 140,000 Vermont residents age 55-plus, has long urged lawmakers to expand the Department of Public Service’s public advocacy role for under-represented ratepayers and consumers in cases before the board.
The organization has been involved in previous board quarrels with Green Mountain Power and Central Vermont Public Service. The group 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.
