The Rules set forth herein shall govern the operations of the Vermont System Planning Committee (“VSPC”), a voluntary association established in accordance with the Order of the Vermont Public Service Board entered in Docket No. 7081 on June 21, 2007, and referred to herein as “the Docket 7081 Order.”

It is the intention of these Rules to facilitate implementation of the goals of the Docket 7081 Order, including but not limited to the goals of full and timely consideration of nontransmission alternatives in electric system planning, and meaningful public input into that planning.

A.           Frequency of meetings.  Meetings of the VSPC shall be held not less than quarterly.

B.           Location of meetings.  Meetings of the VSPC may be held at any location within the State of Vermont, subject to the notice requirements of these rules.  In determining the location of meetings, due consideration shall be given to providing opportunities for various regions of the state to host meetings, convenience of the Members, and the degree to which meeting location will facilitate opportunity for public participation.

C.            Notice of meetings.  Notice of the time and place for VSPC meetings shall be published on the VSPC website, not less than twenty days prior to each meeting, and not less than five business days for subcommittee and special meetings. Links to the VSPC website shall be maintained on the websites of the Vermont Public Service Board (“PSB”), the Vermont Department of Public Service, Central Vermont Public Service Corporation, Green Mountain Power Corporation, Burlington Electric Department and the Vermont Public Power Supply Authority.

D.           Agenda.  The secretary shall send out and publish on the VSPC website an agenda for each meeting of the VSPC not less than five business days prior to the meeting.  Both voting and nonvoting Members of the VSPC shall have the opportunity to identify items to be included in the agenda. In circumstances where a voting or nonvoting member believes that it is necessary to add an item to the agenda within five days prior to the meeting, that member shall send to the secretary a request for addition of the topic, and the basis for its requested inclusion, and the secretary shall promptly forward the request to the voting and nonvoting members of the VSPC. The decision of whether to consider the item shall rest in the sound discretion of the VSPC.

E.            Notice of intended votes.  The agenda shall include indication of issues that are to be the subjects of votes at that meeting.

F.            Participation by telephone.  Both voting and nonvoting Members of the VSPC may participate in VSPC meetings by telephone, and the VSPC shall provide a call-in number and sufficient telephone equipment at the meeting location to facilitate telephonic participation.  Participation by phone shall be considered as participation in person with respect to all VSPC matters.

G.           Additional meetings.  Should the VSPC determine that it wishes to hold meetings beyond quarterly intervals, either generally or on a specific occasion, notice of such meetings and the issuance of agendas for those meetings shall comply with the requirements of Sections 1.C, D and E above. 

H.           Special meetings.  Upon request of a voting Member for cause shown, the secretary shall notice a special meeting of the VSPC.

I.             Emergency meetings.  These Rules intentionally make no provision for emergency meetings, given the potential of such meetings to compromise both Member and public involvement.  Should it be subsequently determined that a provision for emergency meetings is desirable, these Rules may be amended accordingly in accordance with the procedures for amendment.

J.             Chair.  The VSPC may elect from its voting members an individual to chair VSPC meetings, to serve for such length of time as the VSPC may determine. In considering the appointment of subsequent chairs, should the VSPC elect to fill that position, the VSPC shall give due consideration to rotation of the chair position among all segments of the VSPC.

K.           Use of Robert’s Rules of Order.  Robert’s Rules of Order shall be used in the conduct of VSPC meetings, unless in conflict with these Rules, in which case these Rules shall prevail.

L.            Quorum.  Representatives of at least three of the five Sectors as established by the Docket 7081 Order must be in attendance at a VSPC meeting for any vote thereat to be considered valid and binding.  With respect to Sectors having fewer than five Members, no quorum of members within a Sector shall be necessary, and a Sector vote may be cast by a majority of such Sector members present at any given meeting.  If only one member of such Sector is present at a VSPC meeting, the one member may cast the vote for the Sector.  With respect to sectors having more than five members, 20% of the members shall constitute a quorum.

M.           Motions. Both voting and nonvoting members of the VSPC may make and second motions at any VSPC meeting.

N.            Facilitator. The VSPC may also designate a facilitator or other individual to run VSPC meetings and perform such other tasks as may be reasonably necessary to facilitate the efforts of the VSPC. Such person need not be a member of the VSPC.

A.           Composition of voting membership; voting sectors.  The voting membership of the VSPC shall consist of:

1.            one representative from each Vermont electric utility; provided, however, that each utility may designate an alternate who may act fully in the absence of the designated representative.  The designation of the representative or the alternate may be changed in the sole discretion of the utility at any time or at any intervals; provided, however, that notice of any redesignation must be provided to the VSPC secretary by letter, facsimile or electronic mail not less than 24 hours before the start of any VSPC meeting for which the change is intended to be effective. Nothwithstanding the notice provision of the preceding sentence, a member who is present at a VSPC meeting but needs to leave prior to the end of the meeting, may designate another member of his or her sector to act in his or her stead for a period not to exceed the remainder of the meeting, to the full extent permitted by law.

2.            three members of the public, appointed for five year terms by the PSB in such manner as it sees fit.  One public representative shall be appointed to articulate the interests of residential customers, one to articulate the interests of commercial and industrial customers, and the third to articulate the interests of environmental protection.  The PSB may also appoint an alternate representative for each of the public members, and the alternate shall have full authority to act in the absence of the representative.

3.            voting shall be by Sectors as established by the Docket 7081 Order.

B.           Composition of nonvoting membership.  The nonvoting membership of the VSPC shall consist of:

1.            a representative of each entity appointed by the PSB under 30 V.S.A. § 209(d) to deliver system wide programs, unless such an entity is also an electric utility holding voting membership in the VSPC. 

2.            a representative of the entity appointed by the Board to serve as SPEED facilitator under 30 V.S.A. § 8005(b).

3.            a representative of the DPS.

C.            Participation by member organization representatives.  In addition to its designated representative, each member organization may have additional nonvoting representatives participate in VSPC meetings and subcommittees.

A.                 Appointment of subcommittees.  The VSPC may appoint such subcommittees as it deems fit to carry out its purposes.  Each subcommittee so created shall have a charge approved by the VSPC delineating its purpose and duration.

B.                 Composition of subcommittees.  Any subcommittee appointed by the VSPC shall have at least one of the public representative voting members as part of that subcommittee, unless none of the public representatives wishes to serve.

A.           Protocol.  Matters involving confidential information or alleged confidential information shall be addressed in accordance with  a protocol  to be adopted by the VSPC.

B.           Amendment of protocol.  The protocol of the VSPC regarding confidential information may be amended in the same manner as these Rules.

A.           Appointment of secretary and alternate secretary.  The VSPC shall appoint a secretary and an alternate secretary to carry out the duties set forth in this section. Neither the secretary nor the alternate secretary need be members of the VSPC.

B.           Duties of secretary.   The secretary shall record all votes and proceedings of the meetings of the VSPC and shall sign the minutes of said meetings.

C.            Record of members and alternates. The secretary shall keep a record of the voting and nonvoting members and alternates of the VSPC.

D.           Filing.  The secretary shall file with the Vermont Public Service Board and the Vermont Department of Public Service or any other person any reports required to be filed under the Docket 7081 Order.

E.            Notices.  The secretary shall send out all required notices of meetings of the VSPC, and shall cause such notices to be posted on the VSPC website, and sent electronically to all VSPC members and subcommittee members.

F.            Execution and publishing of documents. The secretary shall have the authority to execute and publish documents on behalf of the VSPC where duly authorize.

G.           Alternate.  The alternate secretary shall carry out the duties of the secretary in the absence of the secretary.

H.           Administrative Support.  In accordance with paragraph 69 of the Docket No. 7081 Memorandum of Understanding, VELCO shall provide administrative staff support to the VSPC and such staff shall be responsible for scheduling VSPC meetings in a timely manner, preparing meeting agendas, minutes, and reports required by Section VII of the MOU, creating and maintaining the VSPC website, and performing those other administrative tasks necessary to the functions assigned to the VSPC.

A.                 Notice of proposed amendment.  Notice of any proposed amendment to these Rules, along with the text of the proposed amendment, shall be posted on the VSPC website and sent out to members electronically not less than thirty days prior to the meeting at which a vote on the amendment is proposed to be taken. 

B.           Requirements for approval of amendment.  Amendment of these Rules shall require approval of four of the five sectors identified in the VSPC Vote Tally Sheet approved by the Vermont Public Service Board in the Docket 7081 Order.

C.            Waiver.  Any provision of these Rules may be waived at any meeting by the unanimous consent of the voting members present at that meeting.

Adopted 12/4/07; Amended 6/10/08.