Editor’s note: This commentary is by Ken Nolan, who is the general manager of Vermont Public Power Supply Authority.
The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources has mandated new water quality certification conditions in the relicensing process for the Green River Reservoir dam, and other small hydroelectric generators. These conditions threaten the facility’s very future, the Green River Reservoir itself, and undermine Vermont’s climate action goals. The new requirements placed on the Green River dam will damage the ability of Morrisville Water and Light (MWL) to generate power and revenue from the facility and could also compromise the dam’s safety.
As the general manager of Vermont Public Power Supply Authority, I have the privilege of supporting 12 Vermont municipalities, each of which owns and operates an electric utility that is governed by local voters. All combined, these 12 utilities serve a total of 50 Vermont communities and over 30,000 customers reaching from Enosburg in the north to Jacksonville in the south. Six of these utilities own small hydroelectric generators that they use to meet local energy and capacity needs. These hydro facilities are key resources for supporting Vermont’s climate action goals with clean, local and affordable power.
My role has given me a front row seat to the impact that the Agency of Natural Resources’ water quality standards can have on the municipal utilities who rely on these small hydroelectric facilities. Most of the generators, including Morrisville Power & Light’s Green River Reservoir dam, were constructed over 100 years ago and are increasingly in need of repairs and upgrades. The improvements would normally be paid for using revenue from the power they produce, but that revenue is now in jeopardy because the conditions imposed by the ANR drastically reduce power production. This in turn places financial strain on the owning utility. Nowhere are these impacts so dire as on Morrisville Power & Light’s Green River Reservoir facility.
ANR’s conditions would limit the amount of water that Morrisville Power & Light is able to draw down at Green River dam, particularly when the spring snowmelt raises the reservoir’s water levels. This is not how the Green River dam was originally designed to operate. It was designed to store water in the reservoir so that power could be generated when it was needed later. Limiting the amount of water that Morrisville Power & Light can draw down could compromise the dam’s ability to operate safely and has serious impacts on the value of power produced. It will likely make it uneconomical for Morrisville Power & Light to continue operating the facility.
The present approach creates a classic Sophie’s choice for Morrisville Power & Light. On one hand, the state is counting on small hydro generators to help meet its aggressive climate action goals as utilities are required to quickly move to reduce carbon emissions. On the other hand, ANR is implementing rules that will potentially force utilities to shut down small scale hydroelectric facilities that have produced local, clean, affordable power for decades. Utilities like Morrisville Power & Light are forced to choose.
Morrisville Power & Light will either need to operate its hydroelectric facilities at a loss to meet the higher water quality requirements, or it needs to decommission them and build new facilities, like solar or wind, to meet state climate goals. In either case, the state mandates will lead to additional rate pressure for Vermont consumers. In Morrisville Power & Light’s case an even more severe outcome is possible — the decommissioning of the Green River dam and draining of the reservoir. This would in turn lead to an unimaginable loss to the wildlife and people who enjoy the reservoir’s stunning resources, to the tourists it attracts and to our state coffers from the loss of more than $1 million in annual revenue generated by the associated Green River Reservoir State Park.
The municipal leaders Vermont Public Power Supply Authority supports want to protect the environment as much as anyone else. They struggle every day to balance the environmental and economic needs of their communities with state government directives. They should not be put in the position of choosing which local natural resources they are going to destroy in order to meet conflicting, rigid statewide environmental goals. Instead, they should be supported by state policies that are internally consistent and applied with both flexibility and common sense to maximize use of our existing resources while strengthening our communities.
