Two Vermont utilities signed a long-term deal to buy 225 megawatts of hydropower electricity from HQ Energy Services.
Starting in November 2012, until the contracts’ expiration in 2038, Green Mountain Power and Central Vermont Public Service will buy the power drawn from HQ Energy’s parent company Hydro-Quebec.
By 2012, power rates are estimated to be at 6 cents per kilowatt-hour, approximately the same price Vermont currently pays Hydro-Quebec. Final rates will be determined in December.
The contracts stipulate a price-smoothing mechanism to protect consumers from the effect of unpredictable price markets, they said.
   |
   |
“The price will be tied to inflation and electricity market price indexes, ensuring we avoid price spikes, and it will begin at a rate comparable to what we pay Hydro-Quebec today. This market-following component of the price will also benefit our customers by adjusting downward in the event that future power market prices decline,” said a joint statement by Central Vermont and Green Mountain Power.
In June, Vermont passed a law redefining large-scale hydroelectric power as a renewable energy source. Section 12 of the state’s renewable energy bill eliminates the arbitrary size limit on the definition of renewable for large hydroelectric sources.
Before the legislation was passed, Vermont did not consider large-scale hydro as a renewable source largely because of its considerable environmental and social impacts. Environmental groups oppose the legislation and large hydropower facilities.
“The fact of the matter is that large-scale hydropower has had far-reaching consequences for the health of rivers and the people who surround them,” said Elizabeth Courtney, executive director of Vermont Natural Resources Council.
