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Central Vermont Public Service Books 4Q Loss

The Associated Press

RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) — Central Vermont Public Service Corp., Vermont's largest electric utility, said Friday that it booked a small fourth-quarter loss as revenue fell due to planned nuclear refueling outages and lower retail volumes.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2008, Central Vermont booked a loss of $97,000, or 1 cent per share, after paying preferred dividends. In the prior year, the utility recorded a profit of $5.2 million, or 50 cents per share, also after preferred dividends.

Revenue fell 4 percent to $82.7 million, from $85.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2007.

The company said resale revenue fell due to planned nuclear refueling outages and lower average prices. Retail revenue dipped due to lower volumes and customer usage mix, which was partially offset by a 2.3 percent rate increase that took effect in February 2008.

In a statement, President Bob Young noted that the company was able to defer $4.1 million in costs to restore service after an ice storm in December after a regulatory decision by the Public Service Board.

"Restoring service after the ice storm cost the company more than $5 million," he noted.

For the full fiscal year, Central Vermont's profit gained 4 percent to $16 million, or $1.52 per share, from $15.4 million, or $1.49 per share, in 2007.

Revenue rose 4 percent to $342.2 million from $329.1 million.

The company said resale revenue grew on higher average prices and an increase in excess power available for resale. Retail revenue increased due to higher average unit prices.

Central Vermont shares gained 11 cents to close at $18.68 Friday.