Britton Lumber Company, Inc.
7 Ely Road, P.O. Box 38
Fairlee, VT 05045
800 343-5300 802 333-4388
May 16,2006
Public Service Board:
James Volz, Chair
Ann C. Bishop, Policy Analyst
Public Service Board
112 State Street, Drawer 20
Montpelier, VT 05620-2701
I am writing to urge you not to recommend a significant increase in the
emergency efficiency charge which is added to electricity bills to fund Efficiency
Vermont. As a relatively small lumber manufacturer and building materials
wholesaler with 60 employees, we are already struggling to compete in a highly
competitive marketplace, and adding a surcharge, which already represents 34% of our electricity bill would have an extremely negative impact on our cost of
operations. We currently pay an average of $780 per month for the energy
efficiency charge.
We strongly support the goals of Efficiency Vermont. Every motor we replace
and machine we buy utilizes high efficiency technology and we apply to
Efficiency Vermont for rebates when possible, but this does not begin to cover
the surcharge of almost $10,000 a year A significant increase to that surcharge
would be extremely difficult to handle, especially in light of dramatically
increasing operating costs related to fuel prices.
I urge you to find alternative means of funding increases in the budget of
Efficiency Vermont, or delaying the increase until those means can be found.
Sincerely,
Doug Britton