Customers sign up to pay an additional fee of four cents for every kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity they buy through the voluntary Cow Power program, which goes to participating farms. This voluntary 4 cent/kWh tariff went into effect in October 2004, after CVPS received approval for the program from its officers and board of directors, the Public Service Board and the Vermont Department of Public Service. The tariff is also referred to as the attributes/ premium: Customers pay to support this type of renewable energy generation. The money goes to the farmers so that they in turn are able to afford the environmental benefits/attributes, such as the renewable energy certificate, odor reduction, weed seed destruction and greenhouse gas reduction resulting from installing an anaerobic digestion system.Customers can choose 25 percent, 50 percent or 100 percent of their electricity to be enrolled in the Cow Power program. Under the 100 percent plan, CVPS customers using 500 kWh of electricity per month pay an extra $20 each month, and under the 50 percent plan they pay an extra $10.
Appears voluntary. If you have a bee in your bonnet about other sources of electricity generation, and want to spend $10-$20/month to feel virtuous, why is there a problem?