A few years ago, AIV convinced the legislature to require a report from the Department of Public Service and the Agency of Commerce on policy options to reduce the cost of electricity for Vermont manufacturers and other energy intensive businesses.  AIV is currently continuing to work with these departments on the development of concrete proposals that build on and go further than ideas addressed in the report.

On a related front, AIV is also currently working on a separate track with the Department and Agency on a pilot program to allow companies to use their own Energy Efficiency Charge funds to make them more flexible and useful.

AIV will be working with our Energy Task Force on these issues.  If you are interested in more information about this issue, report, or our task force, please contact us at info@aivt.org.  We are also collecting input and interest through the survey below -- we hope you'll take a moment to complete it.

This is intended to be a brief initial survey -- we will follow up with you in more detail as warranted.

Thank you very much for your time in completing this survey. If you have any questions or difficulties, please do not hesitate to contact William Driscoll at (802) 223-3441 or info@aivt.org.

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* 1. Contact Information

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* 2. Which utility services your facility? If more than one, please indicate each one.

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* 3. Do you feel that Vermont's electricity rates are a competitive advantage or disadvantage for your company?

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* 4. The following are some policy options that might be considered. Please indicate if your support or interest in each.

  Support Not Interested Need More Information
Retail choice for companies to contract directly for power supply
Special discounted rate classes for manufacturers or other categories
Special rate discounts for new investment or job retention/creation

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* 5. If you have invested in energy efficient production-related equipment or efficient products (e.g., lighting, office equipment) or implemented energy efficient practices in the last five years, please indicate whether you made use of financial or technical assistance from Efficiency Vermont/BED, other third parties, and/or from your own resources/staff. Please check all that apply.

  Efficient Production Equipment Efficient Products Efficient Practices
EVT/BED Financing
EVT/BED Technical Support
Third Party Financing
Third Party Technical Support
Internal Financing
Internal Expertise

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* 6. Would you support changes in the financing for Efficiency Vermont/BED assistance that would replace the current reliance on the Energy Efficiency Charge, in whole or in part, to any of the following alternatives?

  Support Not Interested Need More Information
Increased availability of public and/or private loans repaid similarly to other commercial loans
"On the bill" financing (support repaid through a portion of savings added to electric bills)
Tax credits/deductions (for efficiency capital investments)

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* 7. Is your facility connected to a larger corporation with facilities in other states or other countries? If yes, we will follow up with you to see if you or your colleagues might be aware of policies in other jurisdictions that Vermont could emulate.

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* 8. If you have any additional comments, questions, or suggestions, please feel free to provide them here:

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