Our Energy Portfolio
The information below shows which resources provided BED’s energy supply in 2017. BED’s ability to claim that the energy used by its customers is renewable is affected by sales and purchases of Renewable Energy Credits (REC’s).
January-December 2017
| Winter Peak MW | 53.1 | |||
| Summer Peak MW | 63.1 | |||
| Energy Use (MWH) | 341,115 | |||
| Resource | Fuel Type | Location | Capacity (MW) | Energy (MWH) |
| McNeil | Wood | Vermont | 25.0 | 134,488 |
| Hancock | Wind | Maine | 13.5 | 36,580 |
| Sheffield | Wind | Vermont | 16.0 | 36,579 |
| Georgia Mountain Community | Wind | Vermont | 10.0 | 30,489 |
| Hydro-Québec | Large Hydro | Quebec | n/a | 29,199 |
| NYPA | Large Hydro | New York | 2.6 | 19,440 |
| Winooski One | Small Hydro | Vermont | 7.4 | 32,281 |
| VEPPI | Small Hydro | Vermont | 2.5 | 8,959 |
| Vermont Standard Offer | Other Renewable | Vermont | 4.4 | 0 |
| NextEra | Small Hydro | Maine | n/a | 43,800 |
| Burlington | Solar | Vermont | 0.9 | 1,003 |
| BED Gas Turbine | Oil | Vermont | 22.0 | 406 |
| Short Term Purchases Net of Short Term Sales | Various (system mix) | New England | n/a | 0 |
| ISO New England Exchange - Net | Various (system mix) | New England | n/a | -32,110 |
| Net Resales | Various (system mix) | New England | n/a | 0 |
| Total Net Purchases | 373,224 |
BED Energy Supply by Source
BED Fuel Types and Renewability
Prior to Renewable Attribute “REC” Sales and Purchases
Sales of the right to claim renewability, called Renewable Energy Credits or REC's, are allowed under BED's integrated resource plan. REC sales help BED control the rate impacts of purchasing renewable resources (which are generally more expensive than the non-renewable alternatives). BED receives a portion of its energy through ownership in, or contract for, renewable resources before it sells or buys REC's. Sales of such rights affect BED's claim to what portion of the energy it provides to its customers is renewable. This avoids double counting since the purchasers of these rights will have the right to claim the renewability. For CY2017, before BED sold RECs, renewable resources provided over 100% of the total energy used by BED. Renewable resources are inherently variable, so the amount of production in any year will fluctuate.
One new resource, Hancock Wind came online in late 2016. South 40, a 2.5 MW solar array in Burlington reached commercial operation in the beginning of 2018; its generation is not included in these 2017 numbers.
As BED generated and purchased more renewable energy than was used by all of Burlington, there were no short term energy purchases or ISO-NE Exchange position in the graph below.
CY 2017 BED Fuel Types - Prior to REC Transactions
After Accounting for Renewable Attribute “REC” Sales
Renewable resources are almost invariably more expensive than non-renewable resources, and REC’s have become an important cost reducing tool for the renewable electricity market. The sale of REC’s allows BED to support and generate new renewable resources, while controlling costs by selling REC’s to other entities. In CY2017 BED sold REC’s representing over 250,000 MWh of generation and received revenues of $7,899,404 - equal to roughly 15% of its cost of service. As mentioned above, after making such sales, BED has to revise the amount of energy it claims as renewable. This is the reason for the increase in the natural gas, nuclear, coal and oil “pie slices" from the above graph, to the one shown below.
After Accounting for Renewable Attribute “REC” Sales and Purchases
BED can reclaim renewability by purchasing Class II renewable energy credits from the renewable resource market (at prices significantly lower than Class I REC sales). Contracting for the purchase of REC’s created from a particular type of renewable resource (like small hydro), allows BED to return to a more positive renewable position as shown in graph below, while still placing some pressure on the markets to create additional renewable resources.
For 2017, between RECs reserved/retired on BED’s own behalf, BED reserved/retired 28,757 RECs in excess of its 2017 sales of 322,091 MWh. In total, BED reserved/retired 350,848 RECs from hydroelectric, biomass and solar resources. BED retired RECs in excess of sales to customers in order to account for distribution and transmission losses along with company use.
CY 2017 BED Renewability - Including REC Sales & Purchases
