News

Construction Underway On New Vermont Landfill Gas To Electricity Project For Which This Firm Serves as Project Counsel

The Washington Electric Cooperative, Inc. ("WEC") project to convert landfill gas to electricity at Vermont's largest landfill in Coventry, Vermont is now under construction. The Firm has served as project counsel, negotiating a host of agreements between WEC, its project company (Coventry Clean Energy Corporation ("CCEC")) and the owner of the landfill, New England Waste Services of Vermont, a wholly owned subsidiary of Casella Waste Systems, based in Rutland, Vermont.

WEC is a nonprofit rural electric cooperative located in East Montpelier. WEC was established in 1939, after a group of 30 neighbors met at a local Grange and decided to establish a cooperative to serve the electricity needs of rural Vermont citizens, with stable and affordable prices. Since its inception, WEC has grown to serve over 9,000 members, covering 2,728 square miles in parts of 41 towns in north-central Vermont. Visit WEC's web site for more information about the history of WEC, and to read Eleanor Roosevelt's writings about the Cooperative.

The electricity produced from the Coventry facility will be used for WEC's members and will be a long-term source of power for 25 years or more. This innovative project will produce a renewable source of energy from the burning of methane gas and will serve as an economical source of power for WEC, and will provide stable and predictable energy costs to WEC's members. It will consist of a generating plant on the landfill itself ,a 7.2 mile long transmission line from the facility to a substation in Irasburg, and the existing gas collection system at the landfill.

In addition, the renewable energy produced from the facility will have Renewable Energy Certificates ("RECs") associated with it. WEC has already entered into a multi-year agreement to sell the RECs into Massachusetts for use in compliance with that state's Renewable Portfolio Standards, 225 CMR 14.00.

Late last year, with the Firm's assistance, WEC entered into an engineering, procurement and construction contract with Pizzagalli Construction Company. The Firm also worked with WEC to form CCEC, which will be responsible for operating the facility and providing the electricity output to WEC and worked in conjunction with WEC's general counsel, Diamond and Robinson, consultants and others to obtain financing and necessary regulatory approvals.

The Coventry project is expected to be up and running in spring or early summer of this year. A recent news story, WEC Gets Permit for Methane Plant at Coventry Site and the most recent WEC newsletter provide additional information.