Current News

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.07 per gallon, down 2 cents per gallon from last week's $3.09/g, according to AAA. Prices are down 7 cents/g from last month and down 57 cents/g from last year. The lowest price in the state this week was $2.84/g while the highest was $3.29/g, a difference of 45.0 cents per gallon. Bennington and Windham counties had the lowest averages ($2.99/g), while the highest were in Essex ($3.24/g), Lamoille ($3.15/g) and Grand Isle ($3.19/g) counties. The national average price of gasoline fell 3 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.15/g today.

Vermont Business Magazine Easterly Government Properties, Inc (NYSE: DEA), a fully integrated real estate investment trust focused primarily on the acquisition, development and management of Class A commercial properties leased to the U.S. Government and its adjacent partners, announced today that it has acquired a 74,549-squarefoot facility primarily leased to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The building is located at 188 Harvest Lane, Williston (DHS - Burlington). The 74,549-square-foot facility was built to the exact specifications of the U.S. Government and meets Level IV security standards. The building is 100% leased to DHS and supports operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the ICE Law Enforcement Support Center, which operates 24/7.

Burke Mountain Resort Employees, pass holders, condo owners, residents and frequent visitors who stuck with this mountain through nine years of limbo, you are rock stars. You made it. For the first time in nearly a decade, Burke Mountain isn't the central player in an international investment scandal. But who's counting, right? Your staying with us is a testament not just to your patience but also to the strength of this community and this region. What is a community? It's not a tagline or slogan. It's knowing your neighbor will pull you out of a ditch in a snowstorm or share their generator when the power goes out. It's standing by someone when they're down. Through the last decade, you, the staff, guests and pass holders stood by Burke Mountain when it was down. That's community. That's the soul of skiing, and that's Burke.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Electric Co-op's (VEC) electricity procurement strategy will be a key topic at the VEC Annual Member meeting, to be held May 10 at Jay Peak Resort. The main presentation at the meeting, titled “Navigating a Clean Power Supply,” will examine how and why VEC chooses certain types of power—like wind, solar, natural gas, biomass, and others—from the regional wholesale electricity market keeping both climate-related goals and affordability top-of-mind. Two of VEC’s electric Ford F150 Lightning pickup trucks will also be on display and the VEC employees who use them for their daily work will be on hand to discuss the vehicles’ features and how they operate in Vermont conditions.   

Vermont Business Magazine The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT), along with the six other organizations comprising the NOFA Interstate Council (NOFA I.C.) in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont, joined a broad lawsuit to challenge the Trump administration’s unlawful reorganization of the federal government. The lawsuit was filed on April 28 by a multi-sector coalition that includes nationwide labor organizations, cities and counties, and vital non-profit groups. The NOFA I.C. supports over 2,500 farmers. Farmers have been raising alarms about cuts to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) staff since the executive order was signed in February. At the time of filing the lawsuit, USDA has not publicly shared their Agency Reduction in Force and Reorganization Plan. 

Join the Lake Champlain Committee this season to monitor aquatic invasive species through our community science initiative—the Champlain Aquatic Invasive Monitoring Program (CHAMP)! Now entering our third season of CHAMP, LCC recruits, trains, and supports volunteers to survey for aquatic invasive species (AIS) at sites throughout Lake Champlain. As a volunteer, you'll paddle or walk along a shoreline site, rake in samples of aquatic life, assess what you’ve gathered, and report your findings of key target invasive species to LCC via an online form.

Vermont Business Magazine As we approach Memorial Day, the “unofficial” start of summer in Vermont is just around the corner. After a long winter, many Vermonters are eager to spend more time outdoors. Thoughts of boating come to mind along with the warmer air temperatures, but people should not be fooled. Vermont’s waterway temperatures remain dangerously cold, only in the 40s to low 50s, during the month of May.

Vermont Business Magazine It’ll soon be “lights out” on lighting rebates for Vermont businesses and nonprofits that have yet to switch to energy-saving LED lamps and bulbs. But farms, businesses, and nonprofits that act fast can still take advantage of increased incentives from Efficiency Vermont before rebates end. For a limited time, Efficiency Vermont is offering increased incentives for pre-approved commercial lighting projects. These offers are designed to be flexible for a dynamic pricing landscape and changing costs. Projects must be planned and approved before final rebate amounts can be determined.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel (VT NDCAP) will hold its first regular meeting of 2025 on Monday evening, May 12th, from 6:00 PM to 8:45 PM.  At this meeting, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) representatives will discuss the recently published Vermont Yankee (VY) Spent Nuclear Fuel De-Inventory Report.  The De-Inventory Report includes a comprehensive evaluation of transportation infrastructure near VY and enumerates the expected tasks necessary to transport VY’s spent fuel inventory to the Geographic Center of the United States (GCUS).  (The GCUS is used in lieu of a specific repository location for transportation planning purposes.) 

Vermont Business Magazine Cathedral Square’s Bayview Crossing in South Hero received Efficiency Vermont’s Best of the Best Award for Residential New Construction in the Multifamily Large Projects category at the Better Building by Design conference. Efficiency Vermont’s annual event brings together design professionals, leaders in building construction, and experts in climate workforce trades. Thirteen “Best of the Best” awards were given out to builders, architects, designers, and HVAC and plumbing installers for their commitment to energy excellence. Weinmann Lamphere Architects designed the project and ReArch Company was the construction manager. Both firms accompanied Cathedral Square staff in receiving the award.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Parks Forever, the only non-profit foundation for Vermont’s 55 state parks, is excited to announce a first-in-the-nation, privately funded pilot program that will provide free day-use entry to Vermont State Parks for over 100,000 income eligible Vermonters this 2025 park season. In partnership with Vermont State Parks, the Department for Children and Families’ Economic Services Division, and the Department of Health’s WIC Program, this initiative will run from the end of May through October and is available to families and individuals receiving services through the Economic Services Division and WIC. This pilot program is an expansion of Vermont Parks Forever’s Park Access Fund that has been creating a more equitable outdoor experience since 2016.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a coalition of 16 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from illegally terminating billions in congressionally approved funding for electric vehicle infrastructure. Unless the courts check the president’s overreach, Vermont stands to lose nearly $16 million in electric vehicle infrastructure funding. In 2022, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or IIJA, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. One provision of the IIJA appropriated $5 billion for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, or NEVI, to facilitate electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the states. Under the U.S. Constitution, only Congress has the authority to appropriate funds.