HARDWICK – A proposed 13.24% rate increase has been submitted to the Vermont Public Utility Commission (PUC) by the Town of Hardwick Electric Department (HED). The proposed June 1 increase applies equally to all rate classes; for residential, commercial, industrial, seasonal, security lighting and street lighting.
The last HED rate increase of 1.97% became effective March 7, 2024. Prior to that, a 5.57% rate increase became effective in July 2023. The requested 13.03% increase was reduced by the PUC following an investigation and hearing. At that time, a HED plan was approved to refund excess payments it collected beginning on March 1, 2023, the effective date of the originally requested increase.
This increase is necessary to cover the anticipated cost of providing service in the coming year, said Steve Farman. in testimony filed with the requested increase. Farman, manager of the planning and support department at the Vermont Public Power Supply Authority, of which HED is a member, said projected costs, based on 2024 figures adjusted for the year beginning in June, are $8,018,188, an increase of $937,233. That increase of 13.24% was spread equally across all ratepayers.
Details of the increase are attributable to a $259,187 increase in power supply costs, a $447,669 increase in labor expense, with a corresponding $43,848 increase in payroll taxes, plus a $135,459 increase in medical, dental and other benefit costs, noted the PUC filing. The remainder is accounted for by a number of other small adjustments, including a $62,257 reduction in net income.
The PUC may or may not open a formal investigation. If it chooses not to, the rates will go into effect June 1, 2025. The rates will still go into effect June 1 if the PUC orders a formal investigation and hearing on the proposed rate changes, but will be shown as a surcharge on customer bills until the investigation is complete, at which time adjustments or refunds would be made if the increase is not approved as requested.
Eight public comments on the proposed increase ask the PUC to reject or limit it. They include a statement by Katherine Schmidt of Wolcott that begins, “The increase requested by Hardwick Electric is absolutely outrageous. Our rates have been increasing at ridiculous rates since 2022 and we in Vermont cannot afford higher electric charges.” Schmidt wrote that she works three jobs, and asked that any increase be limited to 5%.
Ruth Frisenda, in Greensboro Bend, said she already pays one-third of her mortgage for electricity due to what she called price gouging from HED. “I have filed a previous complaint before tariffs went into effect due to the ridiculous prices set by this monopoly,” she said.
Paul Schnitger of Wolcott, wrote in opposition to the rate increase, suggesting HED documentation supporting it does not “adequately represent the qualitative issues that should be resolved by HED before it seeks a rate increase.”
Schnitger points to frustrations he and his neighbors have had with the “quality of HED’s operations for years,” saying, “It has great employees but it has delivered suboptimal service.” He suggests “operational shortcomings may have directly led to an inefficient and excessive operating budget.”
In conclusion, Schnitger suggests the “new and very capable general manager” who was recently appointed to lead HED be given time to address previous issues. “It would be more fiduciarily responsible for the PUC to give the new general manager at least a year to perform a thorough assessment of HED’s operations and expenses before considering a rate increase. At a minimum, such a delay would provide the customers of HED more comfort and certainty that the rate increase is necessary.”
HED is a not-for-profit, locally owned municipal electric utility. It is governed by a five-member board of commissioners and serves approximately 4,350 customers in eleven Vermont towns with approximately 325 miles of transmission/distribution facilities.
Those wanting to comment on the proposed rate increase can file their views in writing via the PUC’s electronic filing system which can be found at ePUC.vermont.gov using Case No. 25-0729-TF. Comments may also be submitted by regular mail to the Vermont Public Utility Commission, 112 State Street, Montpelier, Vermont 05620-2701.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
