CVPS Aims High with Cow Power.

RUTLAND, Vt. -- Aiming to make CVPS (NYSE: CV) Cow Power one of the top renewable energy programs in the country, CVPS today announced a series of goals and plans to significantly expand the cow-manure-to-energy program.

"CVPS's energy mix has always had a low impact on air quality, with a high renewable content and an eye toward limiting the impact of our service on the environment," President Bob Young told shareholders at the company's 75th annual meeting. "Cow Power takes that concept a big step further - actually improving the environment through energy generation.

"The reduced methane emissions on the Blue Spruce Farm are substantial, producing an annual environmental benefit equivalent to taking 3,500 Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide out of the air," Young said, referring to the company's first Cow Power producer, owned by the Audet family in Bridport.

More than 1,500 customers have enrolled in the program so far - more than 1 percent of CVPS's customers. Nationally, more than 600 utilities offer renewable energy choices, but after barely eight months of operation, CVPS Cow Power(TM) is already joining the ranks of the most successful programs in the country.

"Our goal is simple," Young said. "We want to make CVPS Cow Power(TM) one of the top 10 renewable energy choice offerings in the country by the end of 2010. To do that, we will recruit new farms, develop cross-marketing opportunities with our customers, educate consumers about the benefits Cow Power offers to our environment and farm economy, and work with regulators and other interested parties to ease the start-up costs farm owners will face. In the near term, our goal is to increase enrollment in CVPS Cow Power(TM) by the end of the year so the percentage of customers enrolled is among the top 30 percent of U.S. renewable programs. Our goal is to reach the top 20 percent within two years after that. We hope to have at least 5 percent of customers enrolled by year-end 2010.

"This would create a market for many more farms to follow the Audets' lead, and provide a financially stable base to significantly limit their financial risks,' Young said. About a dozen farms are seriously considering the idea.

"We believe Cow Power has something most renewable programs don't have: a close link between the customer, the energy and the local benefits," Young said. "Lots of companies are offering renewable programs, but often the energy is generated several states away, and there's no real relationship between the energy and the local environment. With Cow Power, many of our customers know the local farm-producer, and there is a sense of partnering to better the environment. That's what makes Cow Power special, and it's one of the things we believe will help it grow quickly."

CVPS Cow Power(TM) was approved by the Vermont Public Service Board last fall. Customers who enroll can receive 25, 50 or 100 percent of their power under the Cow Power tariff. Customers pay an additional 4 cents per kilowatt-hour for Cow Power. Farm producers receive that 4 cents, plus 95 percent of the market price for the energy they produce.

Manure is stored in a large tank, where bacteria continue to digest it, creating more methane. The methane fires a generator, which puts its output onto the CVPS grid. The process kills virtually all pathogens, significantly reduces the odor of the waste, and improves manure management. Farms can separate the solids from the liquids, which mix with the soil better than untreated manure. The solids can be composted, used for cow bedding, or sold.

"Just by capturing the methane produced on the farm, Cow Power is making a significant contribution to our environment, in that methane is a greenhouse gas roughly 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere," Young said.