Shaftsbury's selectboard withdrew its support for gas project.

A hearing on the NOx waiver has been scheduled for March 23, 2000 at 7 p.m. in Montpelier by the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy by Senator Elizabeth Ready, Chair.

H.816, the bill to facilitate and legalize the siting of merchant power plants in Vermont, will be taken up on Thursday, March 2 at 3 p.m. by the House Commerce Committee and may be brought up for a vote. Witnesses scheduled to testify before the committee include: Michael Dworkin, Esq., Public Service Board; Kathy Hoyt, Agency of Administration (for the Governor); and Rich Smith, Agency of Economic Development. Of note is that no witnesses from the Agency of Natural Resources are scheduled to speak.

The current version of this bill ignores all the concerns raised by VCE, including the following:

• Eliminates the requirement to file construction plans with municipal and regional planning commissions 45 days prior to filing with the PSB
• Allows the use of eminent domain to take property for gas pipelines to fuel merchant power plants, but exempts the use of eminent domain for the plants themselves and their associated electric transmission lines
• Allows for a subsidiary of a company like CVPS to invest in merchant power plants
• Could open the door wide for transmission line upgrades and large power plants, including waste-to-energy facilities, in Vermont
• Removes the requirement to show "need" for the power
• Removes all language regarding energy efficiency and conservation
• Represents a major change in Vermont's energy policy
• Ignores Vermont's energy policy that requires greater investments in renewable energies and decreasing use of fossil fuels
• Is a piece of restructuring legislation that is premature
• Does not develop clear guidelines so that citizens can understand and participate in the process
• Is not the result of any study that has been done that demonstrates benefits to Vermonters from hosting power plants to produce electricity for metropolitan markets like Boston and New York

H.784, a bill that makes the Act 250 process more complicated and would make it harder for citizens to participate in the Act 250 process, was voted out of the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee on Friday and will be taken up on the House floor for a vote as soon as March 1. The bill contains one good point: allowing adjoining property owners to appeal to the Supreme Court. The rest of the bill should be thrown out.

Vermont's Attorney General has not responded to VCE's second request, Feb. 18, under the Freedom of Information Act for documents associated with the NOx waiver.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is also not complying in a timely manner with VCE's Freedom of Information Act Request for documents related to Iroquois Transmission Co.'s work on the lateral into Vermont

Vermont Town Meetings are March 4 through March 7. We encourage you to participate and vote.