| 07/02: Senate Bill 138 (Act No. 145), a bill regarding net metering, took effect July 1, 2002. The act allows farms to produce up to 150 kilowatts of electricity using renewable energy sources. The farm will receive renewable energy credits as long as it produces "less energy than the annual load of the meters associated with the farm." As long as the farm has a certificate of public good, an electric company "may contract to purchase all or a portion of the output from a farm system."
02/02: The Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) stated that it is no longer exploring the opportunities to open up its electric market to competition, saying that there is too much uncertainty in the outcomes in restructuring the market.
03/99: Central Vermont Public Service and Green Mountain Power filed a joint restructuring plan with the PSB of Vermont. The plan would consolidate the two companies into one distribution company and would have both companies sell their generating assets and focus on distribution and retail sales.
12/98: The governor's Working Group on Vermont's Electricity Future issued a report that unveiled a restructuring plan. The report suggests that the industry in Vermont should be restructured within the next year to 18 months, and the three major utilities in the State merge and that the contracts costs with Hydro Quebec be paid down with State-backed loans.
08/98: The Governor created a task force to study restructuring activities regionally and nationally; the effects of Hydro-Quebec contracts on ratepayers; the State's competitive position with a deregulated environment; and the effect of recent regulatory activities on Vermont utilities. A report is due by December 1998.
04/98: Several restructuring bills were considered in 1998 session. The session ended on April 17 with no action taken on any of the bills.
10/97: House Electric Utility Regulatory Reform Committee voted to not propose any retail wheeling legislation in 1998, but will draft its version of a restructuring bill for 1999.
08/97: Prompted by the Senate bill, the House formed a special committee to study restructuring issues.
04/97: The Senate passed a bill based on the plan issued by the PSB that would have allowed retail choice by 1998; however, the bill stalled in the House.
12/96: Vermont PSB issued its plan to restructure the electric power industry that called for retail competition by 1998, functional unbundling, and allowed recovery of stranded costs. Implementation of the plan requires legislation. 10/95: The PSB issued an Order to conduct a formal investigation into restructuring the electric power industry. An informal investigation had yeilded a set of principles for implementing competition. |
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