Above photo from Rising Tide Vermont Facebook page.
Montpelier, Vt. – Vermont Gas Systems ratepayers and Addison County residents are holding a “fish-in” at the Public Service Board (PSB) offices, denouncing Vermont Gas’ recent cost increase for the fracked gas pipeline as a “bait-and-switch”. The group is hand-delivering a petition signed by 500 Vermont Gas ratepayers, calling on the board to reopen the project’s Certificate of Public Good (CPG) and halt construction until the 40% cost increase is evaluated.
“Vermont Gas is pulling the old bait-and-switch on ratepayers and the public, and we are here today to stop them,” said Andy Simon, a ratepayer from Burlington and fish-in participant. “The Board needs to listen to ratepayers, who don’t want to fund dirty energy projects.”
Today’s ratepayer action comes after months of opposition by landowners who live along the proposed pipeline route, connecting opposition between impacted landowners and residents who are paying for the project.
Vermont Gas Systems, which recently announced a dramatic increase in construction costs for the first phase of the Addison-Rutland Natural Gas Project, seeks to impose a 3.8% hike in rates for current customers [1].
The “fish-in” demonstrators assert that, given the significant price increase, Phase 1 of the Addison Pipeline needs to be looked at again. The PSB, which granted the company the required CPG for Phase 1 last December, has an opportunity to reevaluate its decision. In recent cases, the Board has required an amended CPG when project costs were significantly higher than reported. The Conservation Law Foundation, a party in the Phase 1 hearings, has formally requested such a process.
Burlington ratepayer and homeowner Jen Berger has been meeting with other ratepayers to discuss the rate increase and the project’s impacts on ratepayers. She said:
“It is financially difficult for me to heat my home as it is. The increased cost of this project, and the inevitable rise in gas prices, will make that even more difficult. If I am forced to pay more, I want my money going toward alternative heating sources, renewable energy, and weatherization projects, which are all available resources right now.”
Vermont Gas has yet to reveal its fiscal plans for Phase III of the pipeline, but many ratepayers are wondering how much their bills might increase again in the coming years due to Vermont Gas’ financial mismanagement.
Simon said, “Ratepayers were never asked if we supported a new buildout of fossil fuel infrastructure. And now we are being expected to foot the increased bill, yet we still haven’t been consulted by Vermont Gas or by the State. This is appalling.”
“Ratepayers have to stand up for themselves,” said affected landowner Randy Martin of Cornwall, “because now we know the Department of Public Service will not stand up for them.” Over the last year and a half while the pipeline has become increasingly contentious, the Department has stated that it must keep the interests of ratepayers in mind, not the landowners or taxpayers who have specifically asked the Department for assistance.
“The Department has neglected other citizens of Vermont in favor of the ratepayers,” continued Martin, “but now that the ratepayers are also getting bullied by Vermont Gas, what does the Department do? They shrug and say, ‘Oh, that’s too bad.’ It may be time to ask our legislators what the real function of the Department is.”
1] “Steve Wark, spokesman for Vermont Gas, said the new cost estimate would increase rates by about 3.8 percent.” From VTDigger, 7/21/2014, link: http://bit.ly/1qyvtJI
STATEMENT ON VERMONT GAS SYSTEM’S UNSUBSTANTIATED COST INCREASE
RANDY MARTIN OF CORNWALL, VERMONT
When this absurd and unsubstantiated cost increase for construction of the Addison Natural Gas Pipeline was first announced three weeks ago, it was clear that Vermont Gas Systems is a company that’s simply out of step and out of touch with Vermonters, our pocketbooks, and our desire for a better, greener future.
VGS’ statement to the press told us everything we needed to know. They said none of the increased costs was a surprise. In other words, VGS knew or should have known about the real costs from the beginning. From their own press releases about agreements with contractors and from their own timelines, we know they knew the truth. We also know that they didn’t disclose that information to the Board – probably on purpose. They went ahead and spent ratepayers’ money on pipes and materials thinking that they would take us all hostage. They are counting on the Public Service Board throwing good money after bad because no one likes to admit that they’ve been duped.
In its filing, VGS was, as usual, long on requests and short on facts. Would anyone believe that VGS didn’t even bother to mention how this $35 million increase is going to be paid for? Have you ever met a businessperson or farmer or a Mom, who didn’t ask herself how she was going to pay for something before she started spending away? Does anyone know a Vermonter who thinks that it’s OK to arrest a neighbor at 5:30 pm so you can stick to an 8 hour work day when you just asked the people living around you to pay for your $35 million blunder?
Would any one of your neighbors ask you to pay for something when he had money in his pocket to cover his own expenses? Gaz Metro’s net income in the first fiscal quarter of 2014 was up 11.8% over the same quarter last year. The company is licking its chops at Phases I and II of this pipeline saying that it could as much as double its rate base and increase shareholder value. The company has plenty of money to pay for this project all together and definitely enough to pay for this outrageous cost increase. It doesn’t want to, however, because thus far our Governor has been happy to ask 45,000 residents – many of them on fixed incomes — to dig $4.4 million per year out of their pockets to fund this Canadian conglomerate’s fracked gas pipeline through Vermont so that International Paper can get cheap gas and sell it down the pike. Guess what: Shumlin has sold us down the pike. Sounds fishy, doesn’t it? That’s because it is.
And, I guarantee you, only Vermonters will have understood that pun. We go fishing, we enjoy the beauty of our state. We work hard on our farms and in workplaces around the state. We don’t mind if a company earns its keep and makes a healthy profit. But we do mind when a company takes us for idiots and assumes that we’ll pay, and pay, and pay some more so that they can get a free lunch, get home early, and then scratch their heads every night when asked why their project is such a waste of money.
Yesterday, the Department of Public Service submitted its comments on the price hike. All they had to say was that they were “dismayed” and would tell VGS not to let this happen again. Are you kidding me? The Department of Public Service’s job is TO REPRESENT THE INTERESTS OF THE PUBLIC AND RATEPAYERS; yet they did not ask a single question about the accuracy of the numbers or about how VGS is spending ratepayers’ money. They obviously didn’t even bother to read the fine print. If they had they would have realized that the numbers don’t add up. If they had they would be asking the same questions we are:
Who is paying for Vermont Gas’ push polls this week? An industry market research firm has been calling residents of Addison County asking how they feel about “renewable natural gas.” They don’t tell anyone that there is no such thing. They are asking people how they feel about the assault on their staff person. They don’t mention that in the United States, our Constitution guarantees that we are innocent until proven guilty. The purpose of these calls is to brainwash rather than to ask legitimate questions or solicit the legitimate concerns of Vermonters. That’s bad enough. What’s worse is that it is probably being done on ratepayers’ dime. While the money that a grandmother would normally use to call her children is going out the door to VGS for their fracked gas pipeline expansion they are spending it on an ad campaign disguised as a survey.
Where is DPS in all of this? Nowhere. The Department of Public Service is asleep at the wheel. They’re standing down because Shumlin is chummy with a company that is swindling his state and the people of Vermont.
In March of this year, Peter Shumlin said:
“I objected to the Champlain pipeline because the Champlain Company was not reputable, not doing anything properly and I didn’t believe it had the financing to carry out the plans they were representing to the public. In my judgment, we were dealing with a very challenged company and the process was never going to happen as they were proposing.”
It’s funny how history repeats itself. And, it’s funny how being chummy gets in the way of doing what’s right.
Mr. Shumlin, please listen to your own wisdom. Vermont Gas can’t hide the truth about this cost increase. They can’t hide waste and incompetent management through deception. We read the fine print. And we study the market, we study the costs, and we study our wallets. The people of Vermont can’t afford this pipeline. – Randy Martin
Fish-In Statement by Jonathan Chapin, New Haven
The VSG project is just a big exaggerated fishing story. In a bait and switch move, they got the state hooked on “cheaper” and “cleaner” fuel, and then they raised the price 40 percent.
What are the real costs of this project?
First, unlike most past utility projects like electrification and the state highway system, which benefited many of the state’s residents, the VSG project benefits a tiny portion on the state’s population.
As to the claim of gas as a cleaner fuel, The Union of Concerned Scientists and many other studies show that the methane leaks associated with natural gas are a 38% more potent as a greenhouse gas and exacerbates the climate change problem. This pipeline infrastructure is meant to be in place for 75-100 years. Looking at the projected future cost of NG many analysts say it is very doubtful that the cost will stay low. More likely, those assets (the millions of dollars that went into the pipeline) will be stranded long before the pipeline deteriorates: A very expensive, shiny pipe will languish because the price of fracked gas will be so high, if it’s even accessible at all.
Does short-term cheap fuel for a very few mean that we should shortchange the long-
Phase I leads to Phase II. The proposed Phase II of the VSG project goes under Lake Champlain and across to International Paper. As a state are we willing to exploit landowners with eminent domain and risk the health of the lake to supply an out-of-state multi-billion-dollar company with NG? Boy, that’s a really crazy fishing expedition!
So, what solutions should we be considering? Well, Vermont leads the nation in per capita solar energy generation and we need incentives to accelerate this and other renewable alternatives to fossil fuels to meet the state mandated law of 90% renewables by 2050, which is just 36 years away. This is the direction we need to move in. We do not need more fossil fuel infrastructure. Many European countries are way out in front. The big question for Vermont is do we want to fish or just cut bait?