EFFICIENCY VERMONT SHOULD BE CLOSED DOWN

The Vermont Legislature and the Vermont Public Service Board created Efficiency Vermont in 1999. The following year, it began offering services to help reduce energy costs for Vermonters and protect the environment.

 

Prior to 2000, those services were delivered by Vermont’s 20-plus electric utilities, and the cost was built into the overall utility rates. The city of Burlington, which has a long-standing and successful efficiency program, continues to receive energy efficiency services from Burlington Electric Department.

 

With the creation of EV, all Vermonters gained access to a consistent, comprehensive set of services. Since then, Vermont has been able to achieve ambitious energy targets, which has reduced its system-wide electricity costs.

 

In 2008, EV received authorization to offer thermal efficiency services to all Vermonters to help them reduce their use of fossil fuels, improve their comfort, and save on heating costs. EV has formed partnerships with Vermont Gas Systems, the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association, and Vermont contractors to deliver thermal efficiency services.

 

Financing EV With a Surcharge on Electricity Bills: EV is financed via a state-mandated surcharge on monthly electric bills. This surcharge started small, but has been getting bigger, as the EV budget grew at about 11% per year, compounded. The financing of the cozy public-private partnership is a touchy subject, as Vermont residents have no choice but to pay surcharges to the government-protected “company”.

 

 “The $14 or $15 a month that I have to pay on my electricity bill for EV is a tax. If I don’t pay this tax my electricity will be shut off,” a caller from Woodbury said. “They’ve extrapolated this to fuel used to heat your house; it’ll be on our gasoline, if it isn’t already,” he added.

 

Glitman, the newly appointed leader of Efficiency Vermont: “We all pay into this. … The notion of thinking about this as a societal benefit charge would be helpful,” she said.

http://truenorthreports.com/efficiency-vermont-fee-societal-benefit...

 

EV is a Wasteful Government Way to do Energy Efficiency: EV, which has a staff of about 200 employees, spends about 45% of its budget on expenses, which is an inefficient way to do energy efficiency. See the Andrew Rudin URL, which shows the Efficiency Vermont way of doing EE is not efficient at all, despite their self-serving reports. 

https://vtdigger.org/2015/01/27/andrew-rudin-efficiency-vermont-not...

 

In 2014, EV budget $45.9 million, about $18.9 million was spent on various expenses, $22.9 million on subsidies for participants, and $4.1 million on other activities.

https://www.efficiencyvermont.com/Media/Default/docs/plans-reports-... 

 

In 2015, EV budget $52.2 million, about $19.6 million was spent on various expenses, $23.6 million on subsidies for participants, and $9.0 million on other activities.

https://www.efficiencyvermont.com/Media/Default/docs/plans-reports-...

In 2016, EV took in $71,629,984, the great majority of it from the EV surcharge on electric bills. It is about time for the Public Utility Commission and the Legislature to eliminate the surcharge, so the money stays in the pockets of ratepayers.

EV’s Budget A Slush Fund For Politically Favored Projects: EV was called on, by RE groups "passing-the-hat", to donate $119,000 to a demonstration housing project. The $3.67 million, low-income-housing project, with 7 pre-fabricated duplex units for 14 tenants, $262,000/unit, is located in Waltham, Vermont. Various government and quasi-government entities made cash grants or other donations to the project, totaling about $550,000, to make it a success. See details in URL.

http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/pv-solar-sonnen-combo-l...

EV Claimed Energy Savings: EV Savings, as calculated and clamed by EV, are shown in below table. The EV Savings and Utility Sales numbers are from EV annual reports and from the “Utility kWh Reports” on the VT DPS website. The Utility Supply is purchased and self-generated electricity. Utility Supply, less Utility Sales, equals Transmission and Distribution losses.

 

Because of economic growth (Vermont’s population growth has been minimal), Utility Sales would have increased, which it did by only a little from 2012 - 2016, due to energy efficiency by:

 

- EV efforts

- EE measures of ratepayers acting on their own, i.e., independent of EV

- Changed habits of ratepayers, such skimping to reduce costs, turning off lights, taking less trips, eating in instead of out, etc.

http://publicservice.vermont.gov/publications-resources/publications

 

Year

Utility Supply

Utility Sales

T&D Losses*

Loss %

 EV Savings

2012

6,007,024,552

5,460,931,411

546,093,141

10

2013

6,198,964,069

5,635,421,881

563,542,188

10

85,582,000

2014

6,124,884,566

5,568,076,878

556,807,688

10

91,146,000

2015

6,068,510,539

5,516,827,763

551,682,776

10

105,000,000

2016

6,060,574,560

5,509,613,236

550,961,324

10

 

* T&D loss percent was estimated at 10%, based VT DPS Utility Facts Report data for 2010 and 2011. See table in URL.

http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/gmp-and-vermont-s-90-re...

More Realistic Measure of Dollar Savings: Determining a more realistic measure of dollar savings would require:

1) The levelized cost of the annual EV budgets over the decades; those budgets total about $700 million.

2) The levelized annual energy cost reductions over the decades.

2) - 1) would be the net levelized cost reduction over the decades.

One of the EV spreadsheet people could prepare this analysis in one day, because he has all the data, which is not available in user-friendly format to the public.

EV Surcharge on Electric Bills Should be Ended: The EV cozy public-private partnership is just another liberal-Democrat-inspired boondoggle to curry favor with various constituencies. After 20 years, the EV surcharge on electric bill should be ended.

 

EV should become a private consulting firm competing with other such firms, instead of unfairly taking away their business. No wonder Vermont has such a low business friendliness rating.

 

Vermont is a relatively poor state with:

 

- A stagnant population,

- A growing population of elderly and dependent people,

- State budget deficits year after year,

- A near zero, real-growth economy, and

- A very poor business climate. 

 

Making EV a private consulting firm would eliminate about $56.2 million of EV surcharges on 2016 electric bills of already-struggling households and businesses. EV budgets totaled about $643 million for the 1992 – 2017 period.

http://psb.vermont.gov/utilityindustries/eeu/generalinfo/budgets

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Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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