IT'S MY TURN: Richard Watts and Patrick Flynn

Burlington Free Press, May 04,2003

Vermont is at a crossroads for our electricity future. Two-thirds of Vermont 's electric energy sources are up for grabs in the next decade. Should we increase the portion we get from clean, renewable sources? Should we continue to buy power from Hydro-Quebec? Can we sharply reduce our use with energy efficiency and conservation measures? These are some of the choices before us as we decide to renew or replace the Vermont Yankee (2012) and Hydro Quebec contracts (2016).

When we look at our energy future -- one choice we don't have is to do nothing. Energy use in Vermont has been growing every year. Summer peak demand increased 84 megawatts between 1999 and 2003 to a new summer peak of 1023 megawatts last August. Energy use is projected to continue to increase as Vermont uses more air conditioning, builds new houses and adds more people.

The last new large power plant in Vermont was built almost 20 years ago. Northwest Vermont for example, where load is growing much faster than the state average, generates less than 20 percent locally of the power it needs on a hot summer day.

A group of students at the University of Vermont has been examining Vermont 's energy policy and talking with many of the key Vermont decision-makers. The results of our findings and the conversations with leading Vermont energy policy experts such as Public Service Board Chairman Michael Dworkin and Public Service Department Commissioner David O'Brien are posted at http://www.vteneregy.org/

Recently, O'Brien talked about the need for a public conversation on these issues. We believe he is right. There needs to be a very public conversation with Vermont rate-payers and members of the environmental and business communities to discuss our shared vision for Vermont 's future.

That conversation should be public and spirited. At a minimum it should be open and fair to all who want to participate, include more than government and energy insiders and provide a meaningful process to incorporate public input into the final planning for Vermont 's energy future.

For example, some believe that wind generation should provide a greater percentage of Vermont 's energy future because it is renewable, non-polluting and keeps the energy dollars in Vermont . But detractors are concerned about the aesthetics of wind-mills on Vermont 's ridges. Local opposition has formed to several proposed Vermont wind projects.

If regulators and utility officials had a sense of the public's commitment to renewable energy it would provide backbone in the inevitable NIMBY battles to come. An understanding of the public's vision for Vermont's energy future would help as the state looks at issues like purchasing the dams on the Connecticut River or building a new co-generation gas plant in Chittenden County -- two options currently on the table for state decision-makers.

The last time Vermont wrestled with energy decisions this momentous, the state's utilities -- with approval from state regulators -- ended up signing a 25-year contract with Hydro-Quebec. Power purchased through that contract continues to be at above-market rates -- one of the reasons Vermont has some of the highest electric rates in the country.

This time let's have a public discussion. We might not get it perfect but there is no more legitimate exercise in a democracy than fully involving citizens in the major decisions of our future.
Richard Watts teaches energy policy at the University of Vermont and is a graduate student in natural resource planning. Patrick Flynn is a junior at UVM majoring in environmental studies.