(Host) The Vermont Public Service Board will be in Readsboro Wednesday for a public hearing on the proposed sale of the town’s electric company.
Town selectmen signed an agreement this fall to sell Readsboro Electric to Central Vermont Public Service for $360,000. The sale was authorized by town meeting voters last March, after being rejected twice in earlier votes.
If the sale is approved, CVPS will assume responsibility for Readsboro Electric’s 14 miles of distribution lines and 320 customers, as well as the small utility’s debts and accounts receivable.
CVPS spokesperson Christine Rivers says the sale should benefit her company and residents of the small mountain town.
(Rivers) "They’re going to get excellent customer service options, budget billing, payment options and you know CV has an excellent reputation for storm restoration. And this fits really nicely into our service territory because we’ll be able to serve them from our Brattleboro and Wilmington Offices very easily."
(Host) For years, ratepayers of Readsboro Electric enjoyed some of the lowest rates in the state.
But the PSB recently granted the small utility a 27 percent rate increase to improve its accounting procedures.
Central Vermont Public Service recently won a seven and a half percent increase.
Some Readsboro voters are still debating whether they’ll ultimately pay less – or more – by going with the state’s largest utility.