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NEWS FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
#31-06 December
22, 2006
GREEN
MOUNTAIN POWER
9.09
PERCENT RATE INCREASE APPROVED
COLCHESTER,
VT...Green Mountain Power
(NYSE:GMP) received on Friday approval from the Vermont Public Service Board to
increase its rates by 9.09 percent for electricity used beginning January 1,
2007. The Board also approved a plan to establish a new regulatory framework
for the Company, as encouraged last year by the Legislature. The Company and
the Vermont Department of Public Service earlier this year reached a settlement
agreement on both the rate increase and the alternative regulation plan.
"This rate increase is driven by rising wholesale
power and transmission costs,” said Green Mountain Power president and
chief executive officer Christopher L. Dutton. “Fortunately, through our continued
efforts to become more effective, we’ve been able to hold our other costs
flat overall.”
Green Mountain Power rates rose less than three percent between
January 2001 and the present increase, reflecting the success of our operational
efforts and the price stability offered by Green Mountain Power’s
long-term contracts with the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant and with Hydro Quebec.
Rising energy costs are driving up rates for other utilities
in Vermont, New England
and across the country. In Vermont,
rate hikes approved in the last year ranged from four percent to 23 percent. In
New England, rate hikes pending or approved in
the last year were as high as 52 percent.
The average bill for a Green Mountain Power residential
customer using 500 kilowatthours a month will increase by $6.19 per month, from
$68.03 to $74.22.
The new regulatory framework approved by the Vermont Public
Service Board this week streamlines the regulatory process and creates
incentives for the Company to become even more efficient. The Board retains all
authority to review Company costs and set rates, but it can do so on a more
regular basis.
“This new regulatory framework creates some immediate
benefits for our customers, in that this rate increase is slightly lower than
it would have been without the efficiency savings built into this plan. We
believe that as we move forward, the streamlined cost recovery and efficiency
incentives built into the plan will help us control costs and serve our
customers even better,” said Mr. Dutton.
Green Mountain Power is the first electric utility in the
state to file a plan under this statute, which established a public policy goal
of separating the financial success of a utility from increased electricity
sales, thereby removing potential barriers to energy conservation.
-30-
For more information, please call Dorothy Schnure, Manager,
Corporate Communications, (802) 450-2213.
Sharon
A. Lucia
Paralegal
Green Mountain Power
163 Acorn Lane
Colchester, VT 05446
802-655-8425
Fax #802-655-8419
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