In re Application of Beach Properties, Inc. d/b/a Basin Harbor Club, for a Certificate of Public Good for an Interconnected Group Net-Metered Photovoltaic Electric Power System

Summary

The Vermont Supreme Court reviewed appeals concerning a Public Service Board certificate of public good for Basin Harbor Club’s photovoltaic net-metering system. The court held that adjoining landowner Mary McGuire qualified as a de facto party because she actively participated in the proceeding, had a personal stake, and was treated by the Board as a participant despite not formally moving to intervene. The court dismissed Douglas Grover’s appeal as untimely, reversed the Board’s denial of McGuire’s motion for reconsideration, and remanded for consideration on the merits.

Holdings

1. Grover's untimely motion for reconsideration did not toll the thirty-day appeal period, making his appeal untimely and depriving the Supreme Court of jurisdiction to consider it.
2. A nonparty may be treated as a de facto party without a formal intervention motion when the participant actively participated in the proceeding, the equities favor appellate review, and the participant has a personal stake in the outcome, particularly where the agency treated the participant as a party and failed to explain the need to intervene.
3. The Board erred by denying McGuire's motion for reconsideration solely because she lacked formal party status; as a de facto party, she was entitled to have the motion considered on its merits.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Douglas Grover's appeal was timely when his motion for reconsideration was filed after the applicable deadline and therefore did not toll the appeal period.
2. Whether Mary McGuire could appeal and seek reconsideration despite not formally moving to intervene or obtaining express party status before the Public Service Board.
3. Whether the Board erred by denying McGuire's motion for reconsideration solely because she lacked formal party status.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded