In 2005, the Public Service Board approved the construction of the Northwest Reliability Project, the first large transmission project constructed in Vermont for many years. In its order the Board concluded it had “no viable option but to approve a transmission option for a reliability problem that might have been either deferred or more cost-effectively addressed through demand-side measures or local generation, if there had been sufficient advance planning by Velco and its owners.”

The Public Service Board then opened another proceeding to establish a new planning process for transmission that would ensure "full, fair and timely consideration of cost-effective non-transmission alternatives." That proceeding, called Docket 7081, resulted in a settlement among most of participants, including VELCO, the Department of Public Service and most Vermont utilities, and a Public Service Board Order approving the settlement. The links below lead to the Board's order approving the settlement and the settlement itself, called a "Memorandum of Understanding."

Public Service Board order in Docket 7081

Memorandum of Understanding in Docket 7081