MONTPELIER, Vt.—A new type of polling done for the Department of Public Service found most respondents "extremely concerned" about nuclear waste and so supportive of wind power they wouldn't mind a wind farm within sight of their homes.
Intensive regional workshops and a weekend of "deliberative polling" in which people were invited to get up to speed on energy issues and then express their feelings about them produced those results.
"People place a high value on efficiency, they support renewables as a source of energy and they're very interested in in-state generation of power," David O'Brien, commissioner of the DPS, said he saw as three of the survey effort's most important findings.
The Legislature asked the department to undertake an in-depth study of Vermonters' opinions about energy as the state prepares for the possible loss within the next eight years of two-thirds of its power supplies.
Utility contracts to purchase power from the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant expire in 2012, and with the provincial utility Hydro-Quebec by 2016. Efforts already are under way to get a new deal with Hydro-Quebec, while the Legislature is to vote next year whether to allow Vermont Yankee to continue operating past the end of its current license in 2012.
The DPS held five four-hour workshops in October in St. Johnsbury, South Burlington, Montpelier, Springfield and Rutland to gather residents' opinions about energy issues.
In addition, 150 randomly selected Vermonters were invited to the deliberative polling weekend in November, in which they were briefed on issues ranging from the costs to the carbon footprints of various forms of electrical generation and then asked to express their opinions about the direction the state should take.
One of the department's consultants, Robert Luskin of the Center for Deliberative
With traditional polling, "you get a sample of what people think about an issue when they've never thought about it before," he said.
In addition to the regional workshops and deliberative polling, the department sent online information and questionnaires to members of several business associations to gather the views of Vermonters with a business orientation, said the DPS director of public information and consumer affairs, Steve Wark.
Among the findings of the surveys: strong support for wind and other forms of renewable energy, sharp divisions about nuclear power with high concern about radioactive waste, and very high concern about greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation.
Respondents were asked, for example, to pick a number from 1 to 7, with 1 being "increasing efficiency" and 7 being "buying/generating power." The average response among those attending the regional workshops was 1.8, meaning strong support for efficiency over generating new power. The average response for the deliberative polling participants was 2.5.
When asked about their level of concern about certain issues from 0 -- "not at all concerned" -- to 10 -- "extremely concerned," participants gave greenhouse gases an average score of 8.5 in the regional workshops and 8.6 in the deliberative polling. Radioactive waste got scores of 8.1 and 7.8, respectively.
Still another asked respondents to pick a number from 1 -- "strongly support" -- to 5 -- "strongly oppose" for "a wind farm visible from where you live." That scored a 1.6 average response in the regional workshops and a 1.4 in the deliberative polling.
