Concerning the solar industry and Public Service Board effect on Addison County, beginning with PSB 7645:
Excerpt from Vermont Supreme Court Order 2011-352, April 12, 2012: “Before turning to the Board’s decision, we begin by outlining the applicable law. Under 30 V.S.A., Section 248, no company may construct an electric generation facility within the State of Vermont without first obtaining a certificate of public good from the Board. 30 V.S.A., Section 248(a)(2)(A). Section 248(b) generally sets forth criteria that must be satisfied before the Board issues a certificate of public good. Section 248(b)(5) in particular requires in part that the Board finds that a facility ‘will not have an undue adverse effect on aesthetics specified in 10 V.S.A., Section 6086(a)(8)’. Section 6086(a)(8) – which also applies in the context of Act 250 permit applications — in turn specifies that the Board must find that the project ‘will not have an undue adverse effect on the scenic or natural beauty of the area, aesthetics, historic sites or rare and irreplaceable natural areas’.”
Excerpt from Vermont law, 30 V.S.A., Section 248(2)(A)(B): “No company … may begin site preparation for or construction of an electric generation facility or electric transmission facility within the State which is designed for immediate or eventual operation at any voltage … unless the Public Service Board first finds that the same will promote the general good of the State and issues a certificate to that effect.”
Section 248(4)(A): “With respect to a facility located in the State, the Public Service Board shall hold a nontechnical public hearing on each petition for such finding and certificate.”
There have not been public hearings concerning the solar industry.
In addition, the Public Service Board has approved sacrificing Vermont lives and property for cheap and explosive fuel from Canada (PSB 7970).
The record shows that the Public Service Board has not followed Vermont law (Vt. Const., Ch. 1, Art. 4) and Oath of Office (Vt. Const., Ch. 2, Section 56), which is a legal vocabulary way of saying that they have deprived we the people, Vermonters, of our constitutionally guaranteed civil rights of due process.
Vermont Constitution, “A Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the State of Vermont, Chapter 1, Article 4, Every person within this state ought to find a certain remedy, by having recourse to the laws, for all injuries or wrongs which one might receive in person, property or character; every person ought to obtain right and justice, freely, and without being obliged to purchase it; completely and without denial; promptly and without delay; conformably to the laws. Article 6, That all power being originally inherent in and consequently derived from the people, therefore, all officers of government, whether legislative or executive, are their trustees and servants; and at all times, in a legal way, accountable to them.”
We the people have the authority and responsibility to secure those rights of due process. If you would like to join in honoring our heritage and protecting our legacy, please write to me at 05472. Let’s save our state.
John Madden
New Haven
Editor’s note: The italics are the author’s.