CVPS plans
purchase of Rochester Electric Light & Power
RUTLAND Central
Vermont Public Service will purchase the assets and franchise territory of
Rochester Electric Light and Power under a deal announced today, which will
reduce rates for the smaller companys customers, and allow CVPS to spread fixed
costs over a larger customer base.
Rochester Electric
owners, Tom and Sandy Pierce, have agreed to sell their utility property and Rochesters share of the Hydro-Quebec contract to
CVPS. If approved by the Vermont Public
Service Board, the sale would reduce a typical Rochester customers yearly residential bill by 6.6
percent. The companies hope to close the
sale around June 1 or shortly thereafter.
Rochester Electric
residential and small commercial customers currently pay winter-summer rates,
which average $72.84 per month for a residential customer using 500
kilowatt-hours of energy. As a CVPS
customer with the same usage, the bill would fall to $68.01 per month. The winter-summer changes would be
eliminated.
CVPSs new
customers will also be covered by the companys SERVE Standards, a series of 17
standards that measure everything from reliability to customer service, and are
reported to state regulators. SERVE
stands for Serving Everyone with Reliability, Value and Excellence.
The deals makes
good sense for Rochester Electric, CVPS, and the customers, Tom Pierce and
CVPS President Bob Young said in a joint statement.
Weve truly
enjoyed providing service to our friends and neighbors, and were leaving them
in capable hands, Pierce said.
Pierce and his
wife Sandy plan to retire after the sale is completed, although CVPS is
retaining Tom Pierce as a consultant to assist in the transition. Rochester Electrics one employee, a lineman,
will be offered a comparable position at CVPS.
Young said the
purchase, though small, would help CVPS grow its customer base, a fact he said
was important in a rural service territory that has seen very slow growth in
recent years.
CVPSs growth is
predicated in large part on investments in the core business, Young said. Our territory grows very slowly, but this
customer base complements our territory, which surrounds it.
CVPS, founded in 1929, is Vermonts largest electric utility, serving about
151,000 customers. Rochester Electric
Light and Power was created in 1897, and serves approximately 900 customers.
Forward-Looking Statements
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historical fact are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the
safe-harbors from the liability established by the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements made that are not historical
facts are forward-looking and, accordingly, involve estimates, assumptions,
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ
materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Actual
results will depend, among other things, upon the actions of regulators,
performance of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, effects of and changes
in weather and economic conditions, volatility in wholesale electric markets
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