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by Alan Panebaker vtdigger.orgSome wood burning plants are greener than others, and one environmental group wants the Legislature to take that into account in a renewable energy bill.
The Vermont Natural Resources Council is pushing the Legislature to prioritize more efficient biomass plants in this year’s energy bill, but its pleas seem to be falling on deaf ears.
A bill in the House Committee on Natural Resources and Energy would require utilities to buy 35 percent of the electricity in their portfolios from ‘renewable’ sources and shoots for a goal of 75 percent renewable electricity by 2032.
The most recent version of the bill makes a distinction between new renewable projects and existing ones that went on line before 2005. It doesn’t do much to separate or prioritize different types of renewable energy.
When it comes to different types of biomass, some say this is a problem.

by Anne Galloway | March 14, 2012 vtdigger.orgVermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant is operating at reduced capacity due to a problem with a key component of the reactor system.
A Yankee official says engineers at the plant are investigating an issue with the condenser.
The condenser is original to the 40-year-old plant and functions something like a radiator ‘ it operates under vacuum pressure and condenses steam from the plant into water and then returns it to the reactor. The condenser is made up of two sections, each the size of a three-story house. Each section has thousands of metal tubes inside it that carry river water, over time the tubing has worn thin.
Last November, during a planned refueling outage, plant workers applied a protective coating ‘ an epoxy or plastic ‘ to the tubing in the condenser in an effort to reduce wear and tear on the metal and extend the life of the condenser.

Burlington Mayor-elect Miro Weinberger today announced a transition team that will assist him in hitting the ground running when he assumes office on April 2.
‘I am eager to hit the ground running and to bring the fresh start to City Hall that the people of Burlington have asked for,’ said Weinberger. ‘Our transition team will be planning for the necessary changes to city government that will allow our community to move forward and thrive. This work includes getting our finances under control, attracting the best people possible to serve in city government, and assessing city departments for improvements.’
Paul Sisson, a local financial consultant and former partner of 26 years with KPMG, and Andrew Savage, a member of AllEarth Renewables’ senior management team and former deputy chief of staff for Rep. Peter Welch, will co-chair the mayor-elect’s Transition Team.

Vermont Telephone Company (VTel) has started deployingClearfield, Inc'sFieldSmart fiber management platform to its more than 15,000 customers throughout its service area in southern Vermont.VTel was awarded federal American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funding for its Wireless Open World (WOW) network to extend fiber to every home and business in the VTel service area and roll out 4G/LTE high speed, wireless broadband services throughout Vermont.
"Clearfield is an innovative provider of fiber management solutions," said Justin Robinson, president of VTel. "VTel selected the FieldSmart fiber platform, because of their expertise in consolidating, protecting, and distributing fiber not only in metropolitan communities, but also, and importantly, in rural markets."
VTel has promised to bring broadband, over both fiber and wireless technologies, to many of Vermont's unserved and underserved homes and businesses.

The Vermont House of Representatives today gave preliminary approval to a bill that will make health care more accessible to Vermonters and improve the ability of the state’s healthcare providers to treat their patients.
The bill, H37, requires health insurance plans inVermontto provide the same level of coverage for ‘telemedicine’ that they do for in-person consultations. Telemedicine uses live interactive audio and video communication to enable the remote consultation, diagnosis or treatment of patients.
‘This bill will allow more Vermonters, especially those in rural communities, to have access to specialized care,’ said Speaker Shap Smith.
Health care providers from around the state, ranging from Fletcher Allen Health Care to the Bi-State Primary Care Association lent their support to the bill.

In keeping with Vermont’s tradition of bringing neighbors together to address community issues, Governors Howard Dean and Jim Douglas joined together on Town Meeting Day eve as Honorary Co-Chairs to kickoff Lund’s 50 Joy Drive Capital campaign. The two Governors bridged the political aisle to embrace a shared commitment to Vermont children and families and the value of Lund’s work. They were joined at the ceremonial groundbreaking by Lund’s Capital Campaign Co-Chairs TJ Donovan, Chittenden County State’s Attorney, and Melinda Moulton, CEO of Main Street Landing Company, Lund’s board, staff and over 100 attendees.

Governor Peter Shumlin, Vermont’s Congressional delegation and FEMA officials todayannounced a $19.8 million investment to reduce the risk of property damage due to future flooding, and help homeowners and businesses whose properties are currently located in dangerous flood plains. The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program will enable communities to buy eligible properties damaged in 2011 and at serious risk of future flooding. The award list contains 72 projects, including the buy-out of 13 homes in Northfield. Those projects must now be approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Under the rules of the program, towns take ownership of the properties with the provision that no structures can be rebuilt on the flood prone land.

After serving as Interim Town Manager since his appointment in August of 2011, Seth Webb, former Economic Development and Tourism Director, was appointed Town Manager by the Selectboard last night. His permanent selection comes after he helped manage the response and recovery to Tropical Storm Irene and develop the 2012 Town Budget which was passed by voters last week on Town Meeting Day.
‘Since taking over as Interim Town Manager, Seth has more than proven himself capable of doing the job; effectively responding to a natural disaster that no one was prepared for, and leading a very challenging budget process that received the overwhelming support of Town voters’ said Chris Bianchi, Selectboard Chair.

Champlain College will celebrate receiving one of the nation’s top green building awards on Thursday, March 29. President David F Finney and the Champlain community are inviting the public to attend the official LEED Platinum Award Ceremony for an exclusive look at the construction of one of Vermont’s greenest, most energy efficient, and high performing buildings.
‘Champlain students, faculty and staff are delighted with the new Welcome and Admissions Center. Perry Hall is a beautiful example of our commitment to campus sustainability in our built environment,’ stated Christina Erickson, sustainability director at Champlain.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.orgIn the annual sausage-making race at the Statehouse, some years are more than productive than others. Sometimes fistfights over the budget or tax bills grind everything else to a halt. Or a single important issue, like gay marriage or health care reform, can gum up the works by blocking the amount of attention lawmakers can give smaller bills and push back passage of the Big Bill, the budget, one of the last pieces of legislation to go through the General Assembly each year.
The 2012 legislative session hasn’t had one of those show-stoppers yet, and has been remarkable for its machine-like productivity. By the Town Meeting Day week break, the House had passed 36 bills (including unusually uncontroversial redistricting legislation); the Senate (which is on a different timeframe) has approved 22. The governor has signed six pieces of legislation, and as of March 2, four bills were awaiting his endorsement.

The US Senate today passed a two-year, $109-billion transportation funding bill that would provide $408 million for Vermont over the next two years. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-T), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, helped write the bill that was approved by a vote of 74 to 22.
‘Anyone who drives around Vermont sees the need for transportation improvements,’ Sanders said. ‘Given the infrastructure crisis facing our country, it is imperative that we get to work as soon as possible and this bill is a good start,’ he said of the measure that now goes to the House.

The University of Vermont and the Vermont Lake Monsters announced today that they have reached an agreement on a 20-year lease for the use of Centennial Field for minor league baseball in Burlington.