Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS) will purchase the assets and service territory of the Vermont Marble Power Division of Omya for $33.2m.

Included in the sale are rights to serve about 890 customers in Proctor, including the Omya industrial facility in Florence, which will become CVPS’ single-largest customer. The sale also includes four hydroelectric facilities with a combined capacity of 18.1MW.

Bob Young, president of CVPS, said: “This purchase will create economies of scale that will benefit all of our customers, and will lead to expansion of the generation output from the four Vermont Marble dams through increased investment.

“It maintains Vermont control over the plants, which produce clean, reliable energy, and expands CV’s role as the operator of the largest fleet of renewable hydroelectric generators in the state.”

According to Mr Young, there will be significant benefits to the purchase. CVPS will invest in upgrades and repairs that will improve hydroelectric output from the plants. It plans to invest $12m to upgrade the Vermont Marble facilities and operate them in consort with its existing Otter Creek hydro operations.

CVPS will invest in the Vermont Marble system, replacing the main substation at the Proctor hydro site and spreading the approximate $1.5m cost over its 159,000 customers rather than just Vermont Marble’s customers.

The sale, expected to be completed by year-end 2010, is subject to the approval process set forth by the Vermont Public Service Board. The transaction also requires approval of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.