CVPS Cow Power(TM) Earns National Honor.

RUTLAND, Vt. -- CVPS Cow Power[TM], one of the fastest-growing renewable energy programs in the country, has a won a first-of-its kind honor from the Edison Electric Institute.

EEI, the national organization of investor-owned electric utilities, presented Central Vermont Public Service (NYSE-CV) with the first Finalist's Commendation in the organization's annual Edison Award competition, named for Thomas Edison.

"The judges were very complimentary of the unique and timely nature of the (Cow Power) program, and the leadership it shows," EEI President Thomas Kuhn said. "The benefits to customers, farms, the state and the environment are obvious."

Kuhn said the judges for the award, which goes to one U.S. company each year, received more than a dozen nominations; just four were named finalists. While the Edison Award winner has not yet been announced, Kuhn said the competition between CVPS Cow Power[TM] and the winner was intense, and prompted a close vote by the judges.

"The motto of the Edison Award is 'Leadership, Innovation and Advancement of the Industry,' and your company's Cow Power submission embodies that quite well," Kuhn said. "The judges felt it was extremely difficult to select the winner this year. Accordingly, they asked us to find a way to recognize your accomplishment. We have therefore created the Finalist Award. This marks the first time we have done this."

CVPS President Bob Young said the award amounted to second place in the national competition. "We would have loved to win, of course, but this is a tremendous acknowledgement that we've created something special in Cow Power," Young said. "It speaks volumes about our employees, Vermont, our customers and the Cow Power farms, which have all made the program a national model."

CVPS Cow Power[TM] is the nation's first customer choice manure-to-energy program, linking CVPS customers, farms and the environment. More than 4,200 customers have enrolled, paying a premium of 4 cents per kilowatt-hour for clean, renewable energy and its renewable and environmental attributes. The program won the 2006 Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence.

To generate electricity, manure is held in a sealed concrete tank at the same temperature as a cow's stomach. Bacteria digest the volatile components, creating methane while killing pathogens and weed seeds. The methane fuels a generator, and the energy is put onto CVPS's power lines for delivery to customers. The remaining waste can be separated into solids and liquid. The solids can be used as cow bedding or composted for home and garden use, while the liquid is spread as fertilizer on the farms.

The environmental benefits are significant. They include:

* Improved manure management, and air and water quality.

* The capture of methane, which is roughly 20 times worse than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

* Destruction of pathogens, including e coli, in the manure.

* Destruction of weed seeds, which may reduce the need for herbicides.

* Reduced fossil fuel use through the use of generator heat to produce hot water.

* Replacement of sawdust bedding with dry solids, and reduced fossil fuels for hauling sawdust.

* Virtual elimination of odor when spreading liquid manure on fields.

To learn more about CVPS Cow Power[TM] or to see a video included in CVPS's Edison Award entry, visit www.cvps.com/cowpower.