Here, No Coal No Gas responds to ISO-NE’s proposal for a hefty budget increase…
Hey ratepayer, did you hear about that hefty raise the New England electric grid managers just requested? A new cost ratepayers would pay through our already ballooning electric bills - for top executive salaries we already pay? No? Well, neither did we, because they never asked anyone other than a corporate board and industry insiders behind closed doors!
On a good note, ISO-NE is proposing to add an executive-level environmental justice position. If approved, this executive will focus on environmental policy and community engagement…however…
Behind closed doors, ISO-NE proposed a 21.5% budget increase for 2024, claiming most of this increase would go to retain and hire staff for the clean energy transition. According to an RTO Insider article, “[ISO-NE] needs $27 million for “catch-up” adjustments to current employee salaries and investments in information technology, cybersecurity and the transition to cloud-based infrastructure; $11.5 million for the revenue requirement true-up; and almost $10 million for 35 new employees to respond to the clean energy transition.”
$400,000 of the budget is also earmarked for lobbying. That’s right, they think ratepayers should underwrite their lobbying budget.
CEO Gordon van Welie made about $2.4 million in 2021, COO Vamsi Chadalavada made nearly $2 million. These are their base salaries. We know that they also received “pay-for-performance” bonuses, but we don’t have the total amounts. ISO-NE is registered with the IRS as a nonprofit organization, but in 2021 members their Board of Directors received salaries ranging from $113,000 to $173,000 for 10 hours per week of commitment.
In our energy bills, ISO-NE estimates their budget increase will mean $18 per year per household goes to ISO - but still: we don’t have a say in how they spend that money? The “Participants Committee” will make a decision on the budget…if you want to read this whole RTO Insider article, it’s here. (behind a paywall)
Meanwhile, ratepayers’ utility bills’ are skyrocketing, and even the smallest increase to bills could mean disaster for families across the region. The price of fracked gas (which New England is over-reliant on) is still high. And billions of dollars that don’t count as ISO-NE “operating budget” flow through the grid operator from ratepayer bills each year. We have estimated that 10-15% of the average residential electrical bill in New England flows through the ISO-NE forward capacity market. That’s a LOT more than $18/year. From June 2022 through May 2023, ratepayers were charged over $1.6 billion to fund the forward capacity market. These payments subsidize nearly every power plant on the grid, including the oldest, dirtiest, and least economical. These payments prop up the old coal plant in Bow, along with dozens of fuel oil power plants that almost never operate.
Are you outraged & want to act? Good, because the rubber stamp has not hit the paper yet! There’s a public meeting between now and final approval, on September 21st in Burlington, VT. Register to attend in-person, or register to attend online. We plan to be there to call this out - will you join us??
