CVPS plans purchase of Rochester Electric Light & Power
April 07 2006 - 1:14PM
Business Wire
Central Vermont Public Service (NYSE: CV) will purchase the assets
and franchise territory of Rochester Electric Light and Power under
a deal announced today, which will reduce rates for the smaller
company's customers, and allow CVPS to spread fixed costs over a
larger customer base. Rochester Electric owners, Tom and Sandy
Pierce, have agreed to sell their utility property and Rochester's
share of the Hydro-Quebec contract to CVPS. If approved by the
Vermont Public Service Board, the sale would reduce a typical
Rochester customer's yearly residential bill by 6.6 percent. The
companies hope to close the sale around June 1 or shortly
thereafter. Rochester Electric residential and small commercial
customers currently pay winter-summer rates, which average $72.84
per month for a residential customer using 500 kilowatt-hours of
energy. As a CVPS customer with the same usage, the bill would fall
to $68.01 per month. The winter-summer changes would be eliminated.
CVPS's new customers will also be covered by the company's SERVE
Standards, a series of 17 standards that measure everything from
reliability to customer service, and are reported to state
regulators. SERVE stands for Serving Everyone with Reliability,
Value and Excellence. "The deals makes good sense for Rochester
Electric, CVPS, and the customers," Tom Pierce and CVPS President
Bob Young said in a joint statement. "We've truly enjoyed providing
service to our friends and neighbors, and we're leaving them in
capable hands," Pierce said. Pierce and his wife Sandy plan to
retire after the sale is completed, although CVPS is retaining Tom
Pierce as a consultant to assist in the transition. Rochester
Electric's one employee, a lineman, will be offered a comparable
position at CVPS. Young said the purchase, though small, would help
CVPS grow its customer base, a fact he said was important in a
rural service territory that has seen very slow growth in recent
years. "CVPS's growth is predicated in large part on investments in
the core business," Young said. "Our territory grows very slowly,
but this customer base complements our territory, which surrounds
it." CVPS, founded in 1929, is Vermont's largest electric utility,
serving about 151,000 customers. Rochester Electric Light and Power
was created in 1897, and serves approximately 900 customers.
Forward-Looking Statements Statements contained in this report that
are not historical fact are forward-looking statements intended to
qualify for the safe-harbors from the liability established by the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements made
that are not historical facts are forward-looking and, accordingly,
involve estimates, assumptions, risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those
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and changes in weather and economic conditions, volatility in
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outcome of any of these matters; accordingly, there can be no
assurance that such indicated results will be realized. Readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements that speak only as of the date of this press release. CV
does not undertake any obligation to publicly release any revision
to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or
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