House committee hears explanation of Rygate amendment, timeline for PUC rate review and efficiency upgrades

The House Energy and Digital Infrastructure committee on May 16 reviewed language in a Senate amendment to H.319 that would change deadlines tied to the Rygate biomass power plant’s statutory power‑purchase arrangement and delay when the Public Utility Commission must set a new rate for the plant.

The discussion matters because state law currently requires utilities (other than Burlington Electric Department’s McNeil plant) to purchase a pro rata share of Rygate’s output at a rate set under a statutory formula; the amendment would push back key construction and verification deadlines and move the earliest PUC rate determination into 2028 while keeping the contract term ending in 2032.

Representative Kathleen James, who led the committee discussion, described Rygate as “a biomass facility that burns wood products to generate electricity” and said the statute at issue sets a special standard‑offer and an avoided‑cost formula for the plant. She said the 2012 rate has been repeatedly extended and that the amendment would change several statutory dates that govern required efficiency upgrades and the timing of a new PUC rate determination.

Under the language the committee reviewed, the plant owner must increase the facility’s overall efficiency by at least 50 percent relative to a 12‑year baseline period preceding July 1, 2022, by following staged requirements in subsection k. Key deadlines discussed in the…