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Vermont Electric Cooperative outlines community solar program and income-qualified ACRE pilot
Summary
Andrea Cohen of Vermont Electric Cooperative described the co-op’s community solar program, its financing and siting practices, and an ACRE-funded pilot that enrolled income-qualified households for monthly bill credits.
Andrea Cohen, representing Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC), told the Natural Resources & Energy committee that VEC’s community solar program has operated since 2016 and is intended to provide local renewable energy without shifting costs to nonparticipants.
Cohen described program design choices VEC uses to keep projects "cost effective without cost shift," including competitive procurement of power-purchase agreements (PPAs) and siting near load centers. "It's both of those things," she said, referring to being cost effective and avoiding cost shifts, and added that the co-op negotiates market-based contracts so participating members do not impose higher rates on others.
Cohen reviewed VEC’s existing projects and customer options: three community-solar arrays totaling a bit more than 7 megawatts sited in Alburgh (about 1…
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