We respectfully submit that Commissioner of Public Service Richard Sedano's commentary [Rutland Herald, "Vermont's power dilemmas", February 2, 2000] raises more questions than it answers and lacks a clear statement of Vermont's energy policy.

The Commissioner explains how other states have managed to lower their electric rates, saying "a big part of how they did this was by directing their utilities to sell their power plants and passing the bounty back to consumers...While Vermont has been able to avoid the environmental problems associated with power plants, we also miss out on the financial benefits of the mass divestiture of these valuable assets."

Energy news and information that VCE has researched gives a dramatically different interpretation of the circumstances surrounding the sale of power plants and the adjustment of electricity rates in other states.

Credible sources, including Ralph Nader's organization Public Citizen, agree that the move towards "deregulation" and "competition" has resulted in a bailout of the nuclear power industry at the expense of ratepayers. It is obvious that the group receiving the "bounty" is the utility industry.

"In Pennsylvania, for instance, power customers will pay a 'competitive transition charge' on their bills for the next seven to 12 years to help utilities pay off more than $11 billion in plant debt that could otherwise not be recovered in the state's competitive market." [The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC, February 4, 2000].

In Massachusetts, deregulation legislation required a rate decrease of at least 10 to 15 percent for a specified period of time. Now prices are rising back up to or above rates that were in effect prior to restructuring.

This multi-billion dollar bailout of nuclear power plants has strengthened the nuclear industry. Once moribund, it is now alive with hopeful prospects for a lucrative future; still absent is any solution for the disposal of nuclear waste.

Utility companies that have been selling their generation assets are pouring those assets into acquisitions of other utility companies. Energy East, parent company of New York State Electric & Gas, is an example. They divested their generation assets and used the "bounty" to purchase Central Maine Power along with natural gas companies in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Commissioner Sedano is focused on what is happening with the utilities, their contracts, and their generation assets. But he has an equal opportunity to focus on Vermont's energy future, as he acknowledges in Renewable Energy Partnerships, in November, 1998, in which he states: "The Department of Public Service has long understood its responsibility to include supporting the development of renewable energy resources and environmentally sound energy supply."

Vermont is poised to set the standard for responsible energy use and enact policy that encourages conservation and energy efficiency Commissioner Sedano refers to net metering as the "good news", but renewable energy advocates are extremely frustrated in their efforts to enact policy changes that will encourage investment in renewable energy.

What is needed is a sound energy policy that will act as a structure to provide discipline for efficient energy use. Market forces alone cannot create such a policy, because market forces promote greed without appropriate concern for the environment.

Specific recommendations for a good energy policy would contain an emphasis on conservation, time-of-use electric rates, a moratorium on non-essential electric heat, tax incentives for conversion away from electric heat, tax incentives for investments in renewables, removal of penalties in existing rates for self-generation, and accountability for the health and environmental impacts of fossil fuels.

A sound energy policy will also require leadership to focus on the long-term good of the people and our environment, rather than the short-term profits of utilities.