(Host) Green Mountain Power CEO Chris Dutton says Vermont will need to replace baseload power in the future and will need to find alternative resources.
He says there are indications that Hydro-Quebec is ready to start discussion on future power deals with Vermont.
(Dutton) “We in Vermont have some advantages. We have in Vermont Yankee an in-state resource. Similarly we have an arrangement with Hydro Quebec that expires in 2015. Hydro Quebec has indicated a willingness to begin talking with us in terms of a contract for what happens beyond 2015. We’re very encouraged. Yes, in an absolute sense, I see prices increasing but in a comparative sense which is the real sense in which we all operate, I think we have some advantages that heretofore we haven’t had.”
(Host) Dutton says utility prices are likely to rise as long as the fast growing Chinese and Indian economies continue to put demand pressure on oil and natural gas.
Dutton says there’s a cost to replacing traditional sources of electricity production.