JOHNSON − Affordability, diversity, and synergy are the principles that guide Vermont Electric Co-op when buying wholesale electricity, VEC Power Planning Analyst Dan Potter said during a recent webinar focusing on VEC’s power supply purchasing strategies. The webinar is available for review at youtu.be/babbxkxzTjE
As VEC considers its purchases of power to supply the utility’s 33,000 members, Potter says the co-op also relies on input from the VEC Board of Directors, an annual member survey, as well as state requirements. When choosing how much to buy of which source, among them large hydro, wind, solar, biomass and nuclear energy, Potter noted that the cost of power is always the predominant consideration. He also said that diversity of sources reduces financial risk for the co-op and strong synergy among different sources assures that different power supplies are complimentary with each other, and also assures power is available when members need it.
Questions from the webinar’s attendees focused on battery storage, how nuclear power fits into the future of VEC’s power supply and VEC’s Co-op Community Solar Program.
