Stable, Reasonably Priced Electricity

Currently our utilities are in the process of signing long-term agreements with suppliers to make sure that all Vermonters have access to affordable electricity in the up-coming years. As Governor I believe that the most effective action I could take would be to help educate all Vermonters about efficiency and conservation.

The most affordable electricity that anyone can use is the electricity they never use. That is a statement that seems so obvious that it may sound silly, but it is surprising how few individuals take advantage of Efficiency Vermont. We Vermonters spend almost $700 million a year on electricity. If every home and business in Vermont were to take advantage of Efficiency Vermont, our consumption of electricity would decrease dramatically. We could keep almost $14 million a year in our pockets if we all cut our consumption of electricity by 2%. The investments in efficiency tend to be on-going, so think about how much money we could save over a period of only a few years.

Electricity, unlike many things we consume does not decrease in cost as we use more. In fact one of the major costs of electricity is that we have to have power plants ready to produce power when we are at our “peak” usage, like these very hot spells in Vermont. It is costly to have those plants on “stand by” and we all have to pay for them to be there all of the time.

The introduction of the “Smart-grid” is one way to address the issue of “peak” usage and the cost that these peaks add to our electric bills. The Smart Grid allows the utility and the consumer to have constant information about the amount of energy they are using at any given time. The Smart Grid will allow the consumer to take advantage of this information and use electricity when there is low demand, which will level out the peak demand. We know that usage peaks when we all get home from work or when we are all getting ready for school and work. The Smart grid allows your electric water heaters to heat the water before or after the peak demand, you will still have all the hot water you want, it’s just when does that water get heated. Your dish washer or washing machine can come on when the demand is low and so can your drier. The smart use of electricity plus the use of efficiency can save all of us millions of dollars.

As Governor, I would make efficiency and conservation a number one priority. This combined with investments in renewable energy would help move Vermont towards an affordable and environmentally efficient energy future.