MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- A new Vermont renewable energy program has more applications than it can handle.
The state recently established a program that sets guaranteed prices for energy produced at plants powered by the sun, wind, water and methane gas as a way to encourage developers to build them. When bids were opened Monday, officials had proposals to provide more than four times the amount of renewable energy that they had wanted.
"I'm absolutely delighted that what the Legislature intended has been delivered beyond my wildest imagination," said Rep. Tony Klein. The East Montpelier Democrat chairs the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee and was a key architect of the legislation that created the program.
"Seeing Vermont in the throws of one of the most serious economic periods in its history, to have this economic interest, especially for an electrical generation source that we need, is very thrilling," Klein added.
The program capped the amount of energy to be produced under the program at 50 megawatts. There were proposals to develop plants that would produce more than 200 megawatts.
Deputy Commissioner Stephen Wark of the Public Service Department said the number of bids that have come in show that the prices guaranteed to be paid to developers -- up to 30 cents per kilowatt-hour for solar -- are too generous, and consumers will end up paying higher electric bills.
"The response certainly exceeded most people's expectations," Wark said. "We can infer from this that we may have paid too much, given that there are four times more projects than were needed. Fortunately we've met our goals under this program, but at a high cost to the consumer."
The program passed by the Legislature earlier this year set up "feed-in tariffs" -- set prices to be paid by utilities when developers feed various types of renewable energy into the grid. The object, Klein and other supporters said, was to set a steady price for power the developer would get for 20 years to ensure they would recoup their investments.
Prices ranged from 12 cents per kilowatt-hour for power made by burning methane from landfills up to 30 cents per kilowatt-hour for solar power. Klein said the figures were based on lawmakers' best estimates of the cost of generating the various types of renewable power and are subject to change later by the Public Service Board.
The first round of bids opened produced 196 proposals for solar power and fewer than 15 for each of the five other technologies.
Renewable energy firms dash for Vt. incentives - Yahoo! Finance 
Renewable energy firms dash for Vt. incentives 
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