Requests 4.69% Increase Due to Costs Outside GMP Control and is Below Pre-Pandemic Forecast for Three-Year Plan
COLCHESTER, Vt. – After holding base rates flat for the past year to help customers facing the economic hardship created by the pandemic, Green Mountain Power (GMP) today filed a request with the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to increase base rates beginning Oct. 1 by 4.69 percent.
This filing marks the third and final year of what is called a “multi-year rate plan” (MYRP) where GMP forecasted annual rate increases at approximately 2.72 percent. If approved by regulators, customers will pay less than previously estimated, or about 2.47 percent averaged over the three years. The plan capped most of GMP’s spending except for several cost categories that require annual reforecasting, including those beyond the company’s control – such as power transmission tied to the regional grid. The goal of the multi-year plan is to keep rates low and predictable for customers, which is especially important as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mari McClure, GMP president and CEO, emphasized that the MYRP is about long-term predictability for customers.
“The primary focus for this three-year rate plan was to meet or improve rate projections for customers to ensure that costs are stable, and we have done that. This is especially important as we emerge from the pandemic,” McClure said. “To meet the moment, we are continually looking for ways to operate more efficiently and cost-effectively, while making critical investments in infrastructure so we can deliver highly reliable energy that is affordable and 100 percent renewable by 2030.”
The major driver behind GMP’s rate request is a significant increase in transmission costs tied to the New England grid, which accounts for nearly half of the rate filing, or 2.2 percent. The other half is made up of several items such as business taxes, investments, and other operating costs.
The Housing Trust of Rutland County has seen the pandemic’s impact firsthand and is grateful for how GMP has partnered with customers. “As a nonprofit working with people who are vulnerable, we appreciate GMP’s efforts to control costs and hold down rates, especially during the pandemic,” said Mary Cohen, executive director of the Housing Trust of Rutland County. “GMP has been a great partner, offering incentives to help us and Vermonters in general reduce their energy costs and carbon emissions.”
GMP will hold a public meeting open to all customers in mid-July, live on GMP’s Facebook page. More information will be available here on GMP’s website.
More information on the filing and GMP’s current regulation plan can be found at the PUC’s website: http://puc.vermont.gov/epuc-information/case-and-document-search. Regulators will now review this request. If approved, the new rates would take effect Oct. 1 and run through Sept. 30, 2022. This is the last year of GMP’s Multi-Year Regulation Plan, and will be followed by a full rate case review, which GMP will file in December of this year to set new rates for fiscal year 2023.
About Green Mountain Power
Green Mountain Power (GMP) serves approximately 266,000 residential and business customers in Vermont and is partnering with them to improve lives and transform communities. GMP is focused on a new way of doing business to meet the needs of customers with integrated energy services that help people use less energy and save money, while continuing to generate clean, cost-effective and reliable power in Vermont. GMP is the first utility in the world to get a B Corp certification, meeting rigorous social, environmental, accountability and transparency standards and committing to use business as a force for good. GMP earned a spot on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in the World list four years in a row (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020). In 2021, the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) honored GMP as a nationwide leader in energy transformation, and in 2019 GMP earned the Deane C. Davis Outstanding Vermont Business of the Year Award from the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and Vermont Business Magazine.
Kristin Kelly, Green Mountain Power
(802) 318-0872
[email protected]
To meet the moment, we are continually looking for ways to operate more efficiently and cost-effectively, while making critical investments in infrastructure so we can deliver highly reliable energy that is affordable and 100 percent renewable by 2030.
Mari McClure, GMP President & CEO
