Current News

Comcast Business has announced that its full portfolio of Ethernet services are now available across 17 communities in Rutland County. This builds on the company’s 2013 expansion of these services across Chittenden County and marks the next step in its focus on the state by bringing access to a fiber network that provides speeds up to 10 Gigabits-per second (Gbps). These Ethernet services are designed specifically for businesses, schools, hospitals and other companies requiring more bandwidth, looking to network multiple locations together, or planning to connect their offices to a third-party data center.

Beginning May 15, Sprint customers in Vermont will be able to use their mobile phones to send a text message to 9-1-1 for emergency help.

“The addition of Sprint as a text-to-911 provider is beneficial for all of our residents and especially important for those with speech or hearing impairments. Sprint is a preferred provider for many who are not able to make a voice call to 9-1-1, and we are excited to be able to offer this service to that community,” said David Tucker, Executive Director of the Enhanced 9-1-1 Board.

The Vermont 9-1-1 Board has been engaged in the process of establishing text to 9-1-1 service since early in 2012. An earlier trial with Sprint was successful, but the trial ended last year while Sprint worked on enabling the service across its nationwide network. The addition of Sprint is the latest step towards a goal of achieving text-to-911 services across the state.

Verizon Wireless recently expanded fourth generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) network coverage in Bristol, Vermont. 4G LTE empowers Verizon Wireless customers with compatible devices to surf the Web, post status updates and photos, and download files wirelessly at speeds up to 10 times faster than customers on 3G networks.

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org The nearly-all-in-one “economic development bill” passed after the House and Senate overcame differences about workers’ compensation. The Senate pushed for more generous reforms to injured workers, while the House wanted a more gradual approach to changes, such as lengthening the period of notice before benefits are discontinued.

The rift nearly spiked the bill, but lawmakers, administration officials, and stakeholders from the business and labor communities got together one last time Saturday morning to find common ground. They agreed to a little more leeway before discontinuance.

Vermont lawmakers passed H695 last week, the first single-use battery product stewardship law in the United States. Vermont will be the first state to require single-use battery manufacturers to develop a program for collecting and recycling batteries at their end of life. The program will go into effect on January 1, 2016.

While some municipal governments and private organizations in the United States are already voluntarily collecting and recycling single-use batteries, their efforts have been fragmented and costly. Municipalities in particular have had to carry the burden of collecting batteries without the funds to offset their costs.

To address this issue in Vermont, the bill, introduced by Representative Tony Klein (D-East Montpelier), requires manufacturers to finance collecting and recycling single-use batteries and encourages consumers to recycle through public education and outreach programs.

US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will travel to Vermont today to see first-hand how Vermont is helping to lead the nation in transforming our energy system from fossil fuels to sustainable energy, the Vermont congressional delegation announced. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Rep Peter Welch (D-Vermont) will join Moniz at an energy summit in Middlebury to discuss energy efficiency, renewable energy and climate change. Moniz also will visit energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives in Rutland County.

Energy Summit

Who: Congressional delegation, US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and state leaders

What: Panel discussion followed by Q & A

When: 10 a.m., Friday, May 16

Where: McCullough Student Center; Middlebury College; 14 Old Chapel Road; Middlebury, Vt.

Press Conference

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine The New England region is expected to have the resources needed to meet consumer demand for electricity this summer, according to ISO New England Inc, the operator of the region’s bulk power system and wholesale electricity markets. ISO also reported that wholesale electric prices in New England jumped 45 percent, or $2.7 billion in 2013, mostly because of the rising cost (ie, demand) of natural gas. This led to a windfall for Entergy Vermont Yankee, which made over $100 million in the first quarter of this year, and ultimately to Green Mountain Power customer, as GMP got $17.8 million in revenue sharing from VY. Vermont Yankee is closing by the end of this year.

2014 summer forecast

by John Herrick vtdigger.org Grassroots campaigns that pitted public health advocates against industries opposed to new regulation were winners in the Vermont Legislature’s biennium that ended Saturday. Garnering national headlines, the governor signed the nation’s first GMO labeling initiative and the regulation of toxic chemicals in children’s products has support in his administration. The new law requires food manufacturers to label products containing genetically engineered ingredients sold in the state starting July 1, 2016.

FirstLight Fiber, a facilities-based telecommunications service provider operating fiber optic networks in Upstate New York and Northern New England, including Vermont, with connectivity to Canada, has announced that it has expanded its network capabilities to support 100 Gbps connectivity at any of its on-net locations.

This network expansion comes in response to increased customer demand for high bandwidth connections in Tier 2 and Tier 3 metro markets. This capability was accomplished in part due to the support provided by LightRiver Technologies, an integrator of multi-vendor transport networks, and leverages Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform equipped with third generation WaveLogic Coherent Optics.

By Deb Markowitz, Vermont Secretary, Agency of Natural Resources Heat waves, heavy rainstorms, floods. That is the long term forecast for the Northeast as a result of global climate change. The National Climate Assessment, issued last week by the White House, provides scientific information about how climate change is impacting different regions of the country and different sectors of the economy.

This comprehensive report, developed with help from hundreds of the nation’s top experts on climate change, tells us in unprecedented detail that climate change is not some future threat. It is already here, and it is affecting not just Vermont, but every part of our country and every sector of our economy. The report makes it clear that urgent action is needed to combat the threats from climate change and to ensure that our families and communities are resilient to these threats.

President Obama announced last week an expanded energy efficiency initiative that Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) has championed in Congress. Over the next two years the federal government will double from $2 billion to $4 billion the amount of energy efficiency work being performed in federal buildings around the country.

The initiative utilizes a public/private partnership known as “performance contracting” to retrofit federal buildings around the country at no additional cost to the taxpayer. Energy service companies and utilities performing the work are paid out of the savings they achieve rather than through additional appropriations.

Valener Inc (Valener) (TSX: VNR), the public investment vehicle in Gaz Métro Limited Partnership (Gaz Métro), has reported its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2014. Gaz Métro owns Green Mountain Power and Vermont Gas systems. Recurring net income attributable to common shareholders totalled$29.1 million ($0.77 per common share), up $5.1 million or 21.3% compared with the same period last year. For the first six months of fiscal 2014, it totalled $44.9 million ($1.19 per common share), up $6.6 million or 17.2% year over year.