Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont State University (VTSU) marked its official launch today as the culmination of more than three years of transformation work. Bringing together the best of Castleton University, Northern Vermont University, and Vermont Technical College, the unification will enhance education offerings, including online degree and training programs, for students across Vermont. It will also stabilize the system’s finances into the future. State officials joined VSC and Vermont State University leaders to mark the occasion and reinforce Vermont State University’s critical role in our rural economy, serving as a catalyst for change for students seeking any one of its 105 affordable degrees, certificates and training programs in relevant and well-paying careers. VTSU is on track to welcome more than 1,330 new students this fall.

The Vermont State Police is identifying the victim in a fatal UTV crash in Newfane as Finley Conlon, 7, of Pepperell, Massachusetts. He was riding in a UTV operated by his father, Mathew Conlon, 40, also of Pepperell. The adult passenger is identified as Bradley Palmer, 24, of Natick, Massachusetts. The other passengers were two girls, ages 10 and 8, and two boys, ages 9 and 8.

Vermont Business Magazine EVLO Energy Storage Inc (EVLO), a fully integrated battery energy storage systems and solutions provider and a subsidiary of Hydro-Québec, has announced its first utility-scale storage project in the United States. Located in Troy, Vermont, the 3 MW / 12 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project will help to further the integration of local renewable generation into the New England grid. The EVLO BESS will store energy during strong energy production times for later use during times of peak energy demand, helping to smooth out the intermittency of renewable power generation and delivering value to utility customers. 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) is encouraging members to conserve electricity this evening (Thursday) between 5 pm and 10 pm as demand for power across New England is expected to spike because of high temperatures. For instance, delaying the use of major appliances like dishwashers, washing machines and clothes dryers until the peak period has passed; reduce the use of air conditioning as much as safely possible (Consider pre-cooling your home).

Vermont Business Magazine Over the next two years, the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps will be restoring the second of their two "Monitor Barns"-- beautiful and historic structures located at their campus on Route 2 in Richmond. To do so, they have partnered with Building Heritage of Huntington, Vermont to turn the restoration into a community timber framing project. VYCC has worked with a private landowner and with Ethan Tapper, the Chittenden County Forester, to source the timbers needed for the project locally, including from a forest management project managed by Ethan at the Westford Town Lands.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) today announced the launch of the Vermont Community Electric Vehicle Chargers Incentive Program. This program aims to increase access to electric charging opportunities for Vermonters at locations such as workplaces, multiunit homes and public areas. Green Mountain Power GMP will administer this statewide grant program. The program is supporting the installation of 84 new Level 2 charging ports at 37 different locations across eight counties. Once this work is completed, the program will serve to eliminate the barriers to at-home charging for EV ownership in 6,230 affordable multifamily homes.

by Bill Schubart Dr. Donald Berwick’s Moral Determinants of Health, presents the fundamental tenets of sound healthcare policy. It looks beyond healthcare infrastructure, such as providers, clinics and hospitals, when considering the variables that determine “health” by including conditions such place of birth and early childhood, education, employment, social circumstances of elders, community resilience (i.e. adequate transportation, housing, food systems, public safety, and a sense of community agency), and redistribution of extreme wealth and income to ensure social and economic security. These forces are what largely shape one’s physical and mental health. Other analysts have added gun violence, loneliness, environmental toxins, and a dozen more variables.

Vermont Business Magazine Record high energy prices defined the region’s wholesale electricity markets in 2022, according to the latest annual report by ISO New England’s Internal Market Monitor (IMM) released Wednesday. The average price in the Day-Ahead Energy Market was $86 per megawatt-hour (MWh), a year-over-year increase of 90%. The average Real-Time Energy Market price also increased by 90% from 2021, to $85/MWh. High natural gas prices drove the price increases in the energy markets. Several factors contributed to this rise, including international events like the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the pipeline limitations New England experiences in winter.

Vermont Business Magazine In recent weeks, smoke from wildfires in Canada has traveled to New England, significantly lowering production from solar resources in the region compared to what ISO New England would expect absent the smoke, according to a ISONE report released in June. The smoke has also lowered actual temperatures in New England compared to what weather models are forecasting. This leads to lower demand on the regional grid, as there is less need for things like air conditioning. These two factors—decreased production from solar resources and decreased consumer demand due to lower temperatures—has made forecasting demand for grid electricity challenging.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) invites the public to participate in a survey and also to attend virtual public meetings for the State’s Carbon Reduction Strategy on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. The meetings will be held at noon and 6 pm via Zoom. The Agency is undertaking this initiative with two primary objectives. The first is to support meeting the State’s requirements for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction, including a requirement for transportation to contribute 40 percent of the overall needed reduction of 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. The second objective is to support federal requirements for each state to develop a Carbon Reduction Strategy

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department has announced the 2023-2024 migratory game bird hunting season dates and bag limits. A statewide Vermont open hunting season for resident Canada geese will occur September 1-25.  The daily bag limit is five Canada geese in the Connecticut River Zone and eight in the rest of the state during this September season. The purpose of the September season is to help control Vermont’s resident Canada goose population prior to the arrival of Canada geese migrating south from Canada. Duck season this fall opens on October 7 in the Lake Champlain and Interior Vermont Zones and on October 5 in the Connecticut River Zone. 

Vermont Business Magazine The State of Vermont, 64 individual plaintiffs who have sued the State, and the federal receiver for Jay Peak, Inc, et al., have reached an agreement to settle all pending and potential lawsuits against the State related to the eight Jay Peak EB-5 projects. The settlement agreement is conditioned upon entry of a bar order. The total settlement amount resolving all outstanding and future claims is $16.5 million, payment of which will be structured over 3 years and will be paid into the Jay Peak receivership. Additionally, the state will continue its support of investors’ pursuit of Permanent Resident Cards (Green Cards), which, if successful, will reduce the state’s overall settlement payment by $4 million. In a separate agreement on June 22, the state agreed to settle the claims of 8 individual Jay Peak investors for $750,000.