Current News

Governor Peter Shumlin today forwarded a formal request for a federal disaster declaration in Windsor and Windham Counties for public infrastructure damage suffered during the storm of July 28. A Public Assistance disaster declaration would allow communities in those counties to receive at least 75 percent reimbursement for repairs to public roads, bridges, and other infrastructure that was damaged in the floods.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Electric Department (BED) Interim General Manager Neale Lunderville was joined by Mayor Miro Weinberger today to announce the discovery by BED staff of significant over-billing errors involving two of BED’s large commercial customers, the City of Burlington ($1,779,201) and the University of Vermont ($357,794), as well as an under-billing error involving the ECHO Center. The discovery of these billing issues has led to a complete and thorough review of BED’s metering and billing processes to ensure that the issues are quickly addressed, corrections made, and preventative measures put in place for the future.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont tax revenues under-performed again last month, as the personal income tax, the most important component in the state's tax structure, did not reach expectations. Personal income tax receipts have struggled for several months and resulted in the Shumlin Administration cutting spending in several departments by $31 million. Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding released the preliminary August fiscal year (FY) 2015 revenue results today for the General, Transportation, and Education Funds. August is the second month of FY 2015. General Fund (GF) revenues totaled $88.35 million for August 2014, -$3.59 million or –3.91 percent below the monthly target. Year-to-date, GF receipts were $189.35 million, -$5.41 million or –2.78 percent below the cumulative target. However, GF revenues were $1.69 million or 0.90 percent ahead of the same period for the prior fiscal year (FY 2014).

Joined by business leaders and state officials, Governor Peter Shumlin Thursday visited a 500 kilowatt solar net metering project at the Northeast Regional Correctional Facility, the first of 10 planned solar projects that will power state buildings. The projects are part of an initiative the governor announced in September of 2013 to deploy 5 megawatts of solar power that will increase the state’s use of renewable energy while saving taxpayers on state energy costs. The governor announced at the event that he wants to add another 5 megawatts to state-owned sites and will have his administration work up the details soon to make that happen.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine A commercial waterfall for more than two centuries and a hydro facility in its current state since 1993, the City of Burlington just paid $16 million for the three turbine, 7.4 megawatt Winooski One Hydroelectric Facility. The Winooski plant can generate 8 percent of the city's power needs, which equates to 5,200 homes. Mayor Miro Weinberger and Burlington Electric Department (BED) officials today announced the completion of the purchase of the Winooski plant, the 7.4 megawatt plant located on the Winooski River on the border with Burlington.

A recently launched partnership between the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing (VDTM), the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, and two Vermont businesses, Route 802 and Inntopia, is working to achieve a broad public benefit: increased tourism business. Unprecedented, the partnership offers a seamless shopping experience to its customers, regardless of where or what they are reserving. Lift tickets, transportation, season passes, activities, and a variety of other resort and lodging products can be handled through web, mobile and phone reservation systems.

Route 802 is launching Inntopia’s cloud-based platform to power e-commerce and contact center reservations in the state’s primary tourism website, VermontVacation.com. Route 802 will utilize Inntopia’s full suite of travel reservation products and their recently released Responsive Commerce design to deliver the same functionality in Vermont’s Official Mobile App, ThisisVT.

by John Herrick vtdigger.org Northeast propane dealers are urging customers to fill their tanks this summer to help prevent shortages linked to last winter’s record high prices. Residential propane prices have dropped from the more than $4 per gallon peak last winter, but the infrastructure challenges in the region that drove those shortages remain, industry representatives say. Matt Cota, executive director of the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association, said last year’s price spikes are not likely to happen again because dealers and customers are being proactive.

He said Northeast propane dealers are better stocked with propane supplies than they were last year. Dealers are also urging customers to arrange for pricing and deliveries ahead of the heating season and make sure their homes are as energy-efficient as possible.

Northern Power Systems (www.northernpower.com) (TSX: NPS), based in Barre, has launched the next generation of their industry leading permanent magnet/direct drive distributed wind turbines. The 100 kilowatt (kW) NPS 100C and the 60 kW NPS 60C are commercially available for delivery to markets around the world starting in the fourth quarter of 2014.

The Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) has approved a total of $5 million in loans for economic development projects totaling over $11 million throughout Vermont. These projects include a $469,262 loan to Jonergin Realty and Swan Valley Cheese in Swanton; Zero Gravity, a Burlington craft brewer, will get $440,319; Koffee Kup Bakery, Inc, Burlington, was approved for a $330,000 equipment loan; and a $165,000 loan was approved for the Rutland Veterinary Clinic and Surgical Center.

“VEDA is pleased to provide loans and other forms of financing to help businesses throughout Vermont grow and thrive,” said Jo Bradley, VEDA’s Chief Executive Officer. “In this round of approvals, a number of Vermont food and beverage producers will undertake expansion projects to meet increasing demand for their products, creating jobs in the process.”

Projects approved by the Authority for nearly $1.5 million in direct commercial financing include:

AllEarth Renewables has initiated construction on nearly 5 megawatts of projects utilizing its dual-axis solar tracker systems to provide power to 12 state government facilities in Vermont. The facilities include each of the state’s correctional facilities and several state office buildings, including the office of Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin. The ground-mounted solar tracker systems will provide emissions-free, net metered solar electricity for each facility at below market rates through long-term energy contracts, and represents the state’s largest public solar initiative to date.

Human beings have had such a powerful impact on planetary environmental systems since the Industrial Revolution that scientists say Earth has entered a new geologic epoch: the Anthropocene, the age of humans. The University of Vermont and two Canadian institutions, McGill University and York University, have received a six-year, $2.5 million grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to develop a graduate curriculum designed to produce leaders who can help reverse recent trends and lighten humanity’s footprint on the planet’s fragile ecosystems. The three institutions matched the grant with a total of $2.5 million raised internally at each school and through private philanthropy.

More than 120 concerned residents attended a public forum to discuss the risks of crude oil train traffic through the Adirondack Park and Champlain Valley last Thursday night, with many saying they would urge state officials to fully assess the risks to communities and the environment, and urge federal regulators to ban the older, leak-prone rail tanker cars involved in recent spills, fires and explosions. Currently, more than three million gallons per day of Bakken crude oil is transported through the region on rail lines that had rarely carried crude oil or hazardous materials before.