Current News

NRG Systems, manufacturer of measurement systems for the renewable energy industry has agreed to invest in Oenko, a manufacturer and installer of lattice towers for wind resource assessment and wind farm monitoring. This investment pairs NRG Systems’ nearly 30 years in the wind energy industry and its complete system approach with Oenko’s cutting-edge lattice tower technology.
‘This line of lattice towers complements our existing tower offerings,’ said Barton Merle-Smith, Director of Marketing and Sales. ‘Our investment enables us to offer customers greater choice in towers, booms and mounting hardware ‘ meeting the full range of customer needs anywhere in the world.’

Thanks to the generosity of Vermont fuel dealers, along with local businesses and organizations, the Split the Ticket program will provide more than 6,000 gallons of free heating fuel this winter.
Vermont’s heating fuel dealers are mostly small, family-owned businesses that live in the same community where they work and know first-hand who is struggling to heat their home. They are often the first to respond in a crisis, especially when the family is unaware or unable to receive government assistance’ or simply too proud to ask for help from others.

Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) announced that the Co-op will not seek a rate increase in January 2012. Favorable conditions including higher revenues due to increased electricity sales, in combination with reductions of several key operating expenses, are helping VEC to stabilize rates. While the annual demand for power is projected to increase by 2.7 percent, the cost for VEC to purchase power has decreased. Additionally, reduced labor costs due to technology improvements from automated meters and lower interest costs have helped to control operating expenses.
VEC reviews electric rates on an annual basis to determine whether adjustments are needed. VEC will not be requesting approval from the Public Service Board for a rate change in January. ‘At a time when Vermonters continue to struggle with economic recovery, we are very pleased to report that VEC will be holding the line on rates,’ said Dave Hallquist, CEO.

Pat McDonald was re-elected to the post of Party Chair, as the Vermont Republican Party held its annual organizational meeting Saturday in Montpelier.
The Vermont Republican State Committee members also chose the following Vermonters to serve as VT GOP officers:

Paul Carroccio, Vice-Chair
Mark Snelling, Treasurer
Steve Webster, Assistant Treasurer
Rob Roper, Secretary
Senator Randy Brock, At-Large Delegate to the Executive Committee
Mary Daly, At-Large Delegate to the Executive Committee

The National Life Cancer Treatment Center at Central Vermont Medical center has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation in radiation oncology as the result of a recent review by the American College of Radiology (ACR) and The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Radiation oncology (radiation therapy) is the careful use of high-energy radiation to treat cancer. A radiation oncologist may use radiation to cure cancer or to relieve a cancer patient’s pain.
Central Vermont Medical Center is the only facility in Vermont to have earned this accreditation.

Bruce Lisman today announced the formation of Campaign for Vermont, a public policy campaign intended to unite Vermonters around a new direction for Vermont’s future. Lisman is the founding partner of the organization, joining him as founding officers are Tom Pelham and Mary Alice McKenzie.
Bruce Lisman explained, ‘Campaign for Vermont will unite Vermonters, from a broad spectrum of political perspectives, to set a new direction for our future. Imagine economic security, better job opportunities and growing prosperity for Vermonters of every generation.’

Two Vermont organizations have received $1.2 million as part of HUD grants. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced the recipients of the 2011 Sustainable Communities Grants, totaling over $97 million nationwide. Twenty seven communities and organizations across the country will receive Community Challenge grants and 29 regional areas will receive Regional Planning grants. The goal of the Sustainable Communities grants is to help communities and regions improve their economic competitiveness by connecting housing with good jobs, quality schools and transportation.

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin received the 2011 Green Governor of the Year Award last week at the Opportunity Green business conference at Los Angeles Center Studios. The award was founded by Beautiful Earth Group, a sustainable energy facilities and products developer, and is presented each year by its CEO, Lex Heslin. Following the award, the governor met with local clean tech business leaders and California State Governor Jerry Brown.
Governor Shumlin received the award for his environmental advocacy, regulatory reforms to support the clean tech industry in Vermont and efforts to clean the state's energy portfolio. Shumlin, a new, young governor, is seen as a rising star in the environmental movement, and a leader who clearly sees the broader linkages of policies implemented in the Green Mountain State.

The number of Us foreclosures is up more than 9 percent in the last year, though delinguecy rates over the last year and the latest month are down. Vermont remains among those states with the fewest bad mortgages.
Lender Processing Services, Inc. (NYSE: LPS), a leading provider of integrated technology, data and analytics to the mortgage and real estate industries, reports the following "first look" at October 2011 month-end mortgage performance statistics derived from its loan-level database of nearly 40 million mortgage loans.

The US Small Business Administration announced today that certain Private Non-Profit Organizations (PNPs) in Vermont that do not provide critical services of a governmental nature may be eligible to apply for low interest rate disaster loans. These loans are available as a result of a Presidential disaster declaration for Public Assistance resulting from damages caused by severe storms and flooding that occurred on May 20, 2011.
PNPs located in the following counties that provide non-critical services are eligible to apply: Franklin, Washington, Windham in Vermont . Examples of eligible non-critical PNP organizations include, but are not limited to, food kitchens, homeless shelters, museums, libraries, community centers, schools and colleges.

The day after Tropical Storm Irene struck Vermont and severely damaged more than 500 miles of state road and some 200 bridges, the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) quickly learned that its usual method of conveying information about road and bridge closures via the Internet was not going to be adequate. A new tool was needed, and it was needed fast.
Early the next day, the phone rang.
Former Vermont State Senator Matt Dunne, who heads up Community Affairs for Google, was on the line. A resident of Windsor County, which was hit particularly hard by the storm, Dunne was reaching out to all states that were impacted by Irene to offer Google’s services ‘ free of charge.
VTrans quickly accepted.

In a decisive vote of 70 to 30, the US Senate Thursday night gave final approval to a transportation budget bill that includes provisions added by Senator Patrick Leahy (D) to replenish the federal government’s depleted transportation emergency fund, along with the crucial cost waivers he authored that will mean tens of millions of additional dollars for road and bridge repair aid that will speed Vermont’s recovery from Tropical Storm Irene.
The Senate’s vote came three hours after House approval of the bill Thursday afternoon in a vote of 298 to 121. Leahy said the President will promptly sign the bill into law.