Current News

Vermont Business Magazine President Obama rejected the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline today. The extension of the existing Keystone Pipeline was intended to bring Canadian tar sands oil from Alberta to gasoline refineries in Texas. See statements from President Obama, Senator Leahy and Governor Shumlin below. Opposition has come from those who say the building of the pipeline itself would do environmental harm, while others say that tar sands oil is an especially dirty form of oil and its excavation also creates unnecessary carbon emissions. Proponents have urged its construction saying that it will lower energy costs and reduce the need for petroleum products from outside North America.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General William H Sorrell, the Department of Public Service, and two utilities filed a Petition Wednesday with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), asking the NRC to undertake a comprehensive review of Entergy’s planned uses of the Vermont Yankee decommissioning trust fund. Under NRC regulations, the Vermont Yankee trust fund can be used only for decommissioning expenses. “This trust fund is for cleaning up the Vermont Yankee site,” said Attorney General Sorrell. “We think the NRC needs to hold Entergy to that promise. The NRC should look at withdrawals from the fund holistically and with public participation in the decision-making process. This trust fund must be protected to ensure the site is cleaned up.”

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org The general contractor in charge of building a resort hotel in the Northeast Kingdom said he’s caught in the crossfire between the project’s developers and state regulators, resulting in payment delays that might force him to abandon the $120 million project. Jerry Davis, president of PeakCM, the construction firm managing the 180,000-square-foot development at Q Burke Resort, blames the state. “I’m at my breaking point,” Davis says. “I’m thinking of stopping the job. It’s delayed the hotel because when subs don’t get paid they slow down."

“Ninety percent of the issue is caused by the state’s inability to manage the (payment) approvals,” Davis says. “We don’t want to shut it down. All we want to do is finish the project under budget and on schedule.”

Vermont Business Magazine Increased reliance on natural gas combined with infrastructure constraints could once again lead to price spikes in regional electricity costs this winter. Meanwhile, growing solar capacity, in particular, will help offset increases in summer peak load. ISO New England Inc, the operator of the New England power system and wholesale electricity markets, today issued its 2015 Regional System Plan (RSP15), the annual report that provides the foundation for long-term power-system planning in New England. RSP15 was approved by the ISO New England board of directors today.

The comprehensive report details power system needs for the next 10 years, through 2024, and how these needs can be addressed. RSP15 discusses:

Vermont Business Magazine Merchants Bancshares, Inc (NASDAQ: MBVT), the parent company of Merchants Bank, and NUVO Bank & Trust Company, Springfield, MA, today announced that they have received approval from the Massachusetts Division of Banks for the planned merger of NUVO with and into Merchants Bank, and that they now have received all required regulatory and shareholder approvals necessary to complete the merger. The transaction is expected to close on or about December 4, 2015.

"We are pleased to have received the approval of state and federal regulators and NUVO's shareholders and look forward to expanding our franchise into the Springfield market," said Michael R Tuttle, President and CEO of Merchants.

Vermont Business Magazine Ledyard Financial Group, Inc (ticker symbol LFGP), the holding company for Ledyard National Bank, has reported quarterly earnings for the third quarter of 2015. Net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2015, was $1,032,884 or $1.01 per share compared to $1,069,538 or $1.05 per share for the same period in 2014, a decrease of $36,654 or 3%. Net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 was $3,174,165 or $3.11 per share compared to $2,995,493 or $2.95 per share for the same period in 2014, an increase of $178,671 or 6%. The strength of our core businesses continues to drive improvement in our operating results and returns to our shareholders.

Vermont Business Magazine A small Texas private equity firm has announced that it is dropping its proxy challenge involving Casella Waste Systems, Inc (Nasdaq:CWST). Casella, a Rutland-based regional solid waste, recycling, and resource management services company, has issued the following statement in response to JCP Investment Management’s press release issued Wednesday, before Casella’s 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders Friday. JCP has decided to withdraw its notice of nomination and concede the proxy contest that it had been pursuing against Casella to seek the election of two nominees to Casella’s Board. Chairman John Casella is one of the directors up for re-election.

Casella statement:

Vermont Business Magazine The arrival of crisp, colder weather means many things to Vermonters – like the start of ski season and the coming holidays. But to many Vermonters, it means worrying about how to keep their families warm over the long winter months. Green Mountain Power is helping with a $130,000 donation to WARMTH, a program that helps Vermonters with heating emergencies. GMP encourages others to get involved and support this critical program. Last winter the WARMTH program helped families with heating emergencies more than 5,000 times. Funds are paid directly to the fuel or energy supplier, and each household receives no more than $225 in assistance per year.

Vermont Business Magazine Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) and Governor Peter Shumlin have announced a federal grant to help Vermont businesses reliant on defense contracts diversify into new markets as defense spending declines. The $386,325 Department of Defense (DOD) grant was awarded to the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development to work directly with Vermont businesses looking to adjust their business plans. The announcement was made Monday at Revision, based in Essex, which makes military eyewear.

Peter Welch inside the Revision plant in Essex. Courtesy photo.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets (VAAFM) has released a draft copy of the Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs) for a period of public comment which will run throughDecember 18, 2015. This is a pre-filing period which will afford the opportunity for all interested stakeholders to review the Draft RAPs and provide initial comment before VAAFM will formalize the draft this winter and will then enter into the formal rulemaking process in the spring of 2016. Additional public comment periods will follow both the draft rewrite as well as the formal rulemaking period.

Vermont Business Magazine As policymakers, customers and others debate New England's energy future, as much as 2,000 megawatts of hydro electricity continues to flow from Canada into central Massachusetts across a 960-mile, 450 kilovolt transmission system just as it has done for the past 25 years. The high-voltage direct-current, or HVDC, system links Hydro-Quebec with New England through a power line that travels across the border to Vermont before running down New Hampshire to Massachusetts. When it was placed in service in 1990, the Canada-New England HVDC system was the first of its kind in the world, and to this day remains the largest HVDC system in the eastern US.

National Grid is the majority owner of the US portion of the HVDC system, and operates the US portion on behalf of some 35 other companies. The system was designed by ABB, a world leader in power and automation technologies.

Vermont Business Magazine Healthy Living Market and Cafe, located in South Burlington, has been named as a Northeast Sustainable Grocery Environmental Leader by the state of Vermont for their environmental stewardship and sustainability efforts. The standards to meet this designation were developed by state environmental agency workgroup members of NEWMOA (Northeast Waste Management Officials Organization). The State of Vermont’s Green Business Program provides assistance to businesses desiring to “green up” their operations and recognizes businesses of all sizes for meeting a set of environmental standards. These standards are posted on the program websites (www.vbep.org).

Installation of the electric car charger in 2011. VBM photo.