GME sells green energy from Vermont

If there is any success story coming out of the current utility crisis in Vermont, it is Green Mountain Energy.

The South Burlington company, which was founded as Green Mountain Energy Resources in 1997 as a spin-off from Green Mountain Power Corp, recently the word "resources" from its frame. It was created to sell "green," or environmentally friendly power, in states which had deregulated their power industries and where a competitive market was functioning.

The independent company is jointly owned by GMP and The Wyly Family of Dallas, which put in $30 million and remains a significant owner. At the time of its founding, Douglas Hyde, the long-serving CEO of GMP, moved over to become president of the company.

Hyde was replaced on October 8 of this year by David White.

"We reached a point in the company's history where we found we needed someone who would bring us into a hypergrowth stage," said Ann Ryan, media relations manager. "Mr Hyde brought us through the initial stages of the company's launch, but we needed to bring someone in who had real experience in growth, and that's where we brought David in."

The company is reporting success in California and Pennsylvania.

"In Vermont they don't know a lot about us," Ryan said. "All of our customers are in California and Pennsylvania, the only two markets that are deregulated right now."

As other states deregulate, GME will move into those markets, too, Ryan said.

"We wait for the entire state roll-out before we go in," Ryan said.

Because the company is privately owned, Ryan was reluctant to give a dollar sales amount, but said the company employs 55 people and has quickly gone from a start-up company to "a stage where we're pretty proud of ourselves."

The company sells various mixes of renewable-source power to environmentally conscious consumers. All its packages are 100 percent nuclear- and coal-power free.

"In Pennsylvania, we sell natural gas, landfill gas, and hydro-power blends in three packages: good, better and best," Ryan said. "Each has a component of new renewables. Our least expensive, Eco Smart, is 99 percent natural gas or water power, and 1 percent renewable landfill gas. The next blend, Enviro Blend, which is still coal and nuke free, is 50 percent renewable -- 47 percent existing renewables (landfill gas, natural gas or hydro) and 3 percent new, plus 50 percent natural gas. Nature's Choice, our best, is 100 percent renewable energy -- 95 existing and 5 percent new."

California has been a slow market, Ryan said, because after deregulation, only about 1 percent of the population switched power companies.

"But we have a significant share of those switchers," Ryan said. "In Pennsylvania, we've been doing fantastically well. We've done an awful lot of marketing statewide, and we're the leading retail marketer of green electricity to residential customers." The company has generated so much notice that National Public Radio did a feature late last year on the company and its attempt in Pennsylvania to recruit customers -- some skeptical, some enthusiastic.

In the new world of deregulated utilities, there are quite a few energy providers, but not many are selling green energy, Ryan said.

"It's more expensive, but still competitive," Ryan said. "And in fact in Philadelphia, we're a little less than Philadelphia Electric Company. But people are switching for reasons other than price. We've taken on a huge endeavor in trying to educate people about the environmental impacts involved in making electricity, and it's paying off for us."

Copyright Boutin-McQuiston, Inc. Jan 01, 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved