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BED’s mistake cost other utilities about $860,000
By Guy Page
The Vermont Public Utility Commission on July 31 issued a stark warning to the Burlington Electric Department citing a “concerning pattern of regulatory errors, inconsistencies, and shortfalls”. The state’s utility oversight board says stronger oversight by the state’s largest municipal utility is necessary to ensure improved performance from the utility, particularly concerning its energy efficiency programs.
Public Service Commissioner Kerrick Johnson has since contacted BED with a letter expressing the PUC’s concerns.
The Commission’s letter observed repeated issues across various cases, impacting both BED’s role as an energy efficiency utility and a distribution utility. Key examples highlighted include:
• Ratepayer Impact: BED’s initial proposals for energy efficiency charge rates have been based on budgets larger than approved by the Commission, raising concerns about potential overpayments by ratepayers. Additionally, an error in net-metering tariffs led to 206 customers being under-compensated by $26,275.
• Financial Losses & Fund Issues: BED lost approximately $951,000 due to its failure to report output and fuel type for the McNeil Generating Station’s renewable energy credits. The same reporting error cost Green Mountain Power $600,000 and a consortium of other, smaller municipal utilities $260,000, the PUC said.
Compounded errors in calculations have also resulted in a significant negative balance in BED’s energy efficiency utility fund, prompting a Commission investigation. BED also acknowledged overspending its residential-sector resource-acquisition budget by 33% due to invoicing errors.
• District Energy System (DES) Spending: The Commission is investigating BED’s expenditure of roughly $2 million of ratepayer funds on the development of a district energy system (DES) without proper regulatory approval. The DES would use excess steam generated by McNeil to heat public buildings, including some at UVM and the UVM Medical Center.
BED also made errors in its 2024 rate case by unintentionally including DES expenses and failing to disclose this information, which led to the Commission making decisions based on erroneous data.
• Regulatory Compliance: Regulators have criticized BED for a history of inconsistent regulatory engagement, including “late, internally inconsistent, missing information, or other mistakes” in filings. The Commission previously found BED’s approach to proposals “unacceptable” when they were inconsistent with Commission orders and expected “marked improvement in BED’s regulatory diligence”.
The Commission believes these issues point to a lack of adequate quality-control measures or an identified root cause within BED. Rather than addressing each issue individually, the Commission is now seeking a “more holistic approach” to oversight and has requested recommendations from the Department of Public Service on how to facilitate effective regulatory engagement.
In published reports, BED General Manager Darren Springer promised to work with the state to improve on the areas addressed by Johnson and the PUC.
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Categories: Burlington, Energy
Whoops!!! That’s two major clerical errors this year for the City of Burlington. I have a 1978 Elsi Mate calculator you could borrow.
Is anyone going to be held accountable, other than taxpayers?
The Left screams and yells about all of these programs particularly the Alternative Energy then can not file the paperwork they created to receive the money promised to their rate payers, apparently with an ‘oh well’ attitude! Over a million dollars for the two entities!
Well, remember when BED was an independent dept that had the lowest rates and always was profitable? Then the Progressives saw an opportunity to take control of BED in order to get at the money for their agenda! Now look at the BS that resulted from Bernie and his ilk! But, yes, it has been a slow cancer that has finally metastasized! Let’s continue to register 18 year old students who aren’t really residents to vote-in these greedy pr**ks; do you know that Bernie won by only TEN votes! Why Gordon Paquette didn’t contest it , I don’t know.
Everything has become so complicated that they are all chasing their tails. Thank you Vermont Legislators!
Accounting errors or draining the coffers to purchase additional power to run data centers? Reportedly, there are three in Vermont – two in Burlington, an additional one housed at UVM as a “census” information resource? Another listed in Stowe? Are the environmentalist greentards ignoring these carbon crater energy sucking montsters because the speed to download their selfies at the protest is more important than saving the planet?
Lots of square footage running servers 24/7 365 – takes a lot of power to run and cool those servers while compling and distributing oodles of our data. Meanwhile, Vermonters see rates go up, surcharges for storm damages, and Efficiency Vermont. What are the odds that data centers are not required to purchase heat pumps or surcharged into perpetuity? Americans are seeing their power rates skyrocket – even after all those solar panels and wind turbines were plastered all over. Green energy – Green New Deal – green in someone’s pockets while draining all others.
Since 1953, BED the very profitable independent company was acquired by Burlington municipality claiming it was a monopoly. Good or BAD everyone will have a different opinion, but the responsibility still filters back to City Hall. This being the second budget concern (mistake) for Burlington’s Progressive Mayor this year alone.
I look at word meanings, if you notice Progressive comes from the root Progress. Progress means a positive move forward with increase.
Progressives in Burlington are doing the opposite. Unless you considered an increase in taxes positive. The fix comes on voting day, if Burlingtonites are paying attention.