Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, the counties of Caledonia, Orleans and Essex, are traditionally the weakest economic region in the state, but this year there are signs that the bottom of a very bad economic trough has been reached and economic factors are returning to more normal conditions. Employment is growing, albeit with a still-high unemployment rate, tourism is strong, the localvore agricultural sector is surging and other sectors, including manufacturing and real estate sales, are holding their own.

Tax credits and other incentives are spurring a solar-energy boom in Vermont, with more than half-a-dozen commercial projects underway or nearing construction in various parts of the state.

Even with this spate of development, however, solar will account for only a tiny fraction of Vermont's electricity supply. But the sprouting of solar farms does point to a future in which this type of renewable energy might play a significant role in a state not noted for brilliant sunshine.

America's oil crisis in the Seventies shone a spotlight on the growing need for renewable energy sources, including water, sunlight and wind. The need inspired two starry-eyed mechanical engineers who graduated Cornell University in 1982.

Unfortunately, they graduated just in time to see Ronald Reagan remove the solar panels from the White House roof and eviscerate the country's alternative energy programs. The careers they wanted disappeared like the sun on a cloudy day.

So here it is, the beginning of August, and we are no closer to knowing who will be the Democratic gubernatorial nominee than we were a year ago.

Well, we are a little closer. It would be quite the upset if state Senator Susan Bartlett wins the nomination in the August 24 primary. She performed well in many of the forums and debates but failed to translate that into the contributions and supporters necessary to build a get-out-the-vote operation.

Christopher L Dutton was named president and chief executive officer of Vermont Electric Power Company on April 12, following a vote by Vermont Electric Power Company’s board of directors.

Dutton, 61, succeeded John J Donleavy who resigned April 10. VELCO is the state’s provider of electric transmission service. Dutton has served on the VELCO Board of Directors since 1997.

Dutton served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Mountain Power from 1997-2008; after having held various management positions within GMP.

With the exception of Middlebury College, none of Vermont’s higher education institutions ranks as “highly selective,” so all must aggressively market themselves in order to lure paying customers.

Vermont utilities’ pending 26-year power deal with Hydro Quebec looks likely to proceed, given the absence of opposition from environmental groups in the state.

That position of at least tacit acceptance contrasts with the protests heard in the 1980s when HQ was negotiating a contract with Central Vermont Public Service and Green Mountain Power. That agreement was ultimately approved, but Burlington voters rejected a similar deal due to concerns about the impact of HQ’s dams on native peoples and the environment of northern Quebec.

Sometimes having a balanced portfolio or a balanced economy isn’t enough. Plummeting portfolios, failed mortgages, cutbacks in employment and consequent reductions in sales and further cutbacks on a national scale have hit Addison County, as well.

While conditions are too uncertain to call the county’s economy “recovered,” this year it seems to be having a positive convalescence. In sector after sector, there have been positive signs, raising hopes if not expectations.