Current News

As of 10:30 am on Monday, Green Mountain Power has roughly 2,800 outages throughout its service territory, down from 12,000 last night. The bulk of the outages are in Washington and Windham Counties. In Washington County, about 1,300 GMP customers are without power largely due to the Waterbury substation being down as a result of flooding last night. The remaining outages are scattered throughout Addison, Bennington, Caledonia, Chittenden and Windsor Counties. See www.vtoutages.com for updated details.
Last evening, rising waters levels put the Marshfield dam at risk, which necessitated the evacuation of residents downstream. Fortunately, the water level stabilized at the Marshfield dam and we did not have to take the emergency action of releasing overflow waters . Those residents who evacuated are now free to return home.

With the brunt of Tropical Storm Irene now past the eastern seaboard, Entergy’s Indian Point Energy Center in New York, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts and Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Vermont all remain operating safely and at full power.
‘Entergy’s nuclear generating plants continue to operate safely while supplying electricity to the region’s customers,’ said John Herron, president and CEO of Entergy Nuclear.
Entergy Nuclear plants began preparations for the storm early in the week, coordinating activities with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, independent system operators and various government officials.

Farmers around the state are benefiting from in-depth, one-on-one business planning services provided by the Vermont Farm Viability Program. Since 2003, the program, which is administered by the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, has enrolled more than 375 farmers and ag-related businesses, providing on-farm business and financial planning as well as technical assistance ranging from veterinary services to marketing consultants. The program can help farmers to solidify their business skills, examine their farm’s profitability, plan for an expansion or diversification, transfer the farm to a new generation, and more.

Vermont-born global economist David Hale will appear on the EAI platform for the seventh time on Monday, August 29, at 7 pm in the University Amphitheatre at the Sheraton Burlington Conference Center.
David and his wife Lyric are the editors of a just released book, What's Next? Unconventional Wisdom on the Future of the World Economy (Yale University Press).
In this unique book, more than twenty leading economists and experts offer rigorously researched prognoses for the world's major economies over the next five years. Factoring in such varied issues as the price of oil, the strength of the U.S. dollar, geopolitics, tax policies, and new developments in investment decision making, the contributors ground their predictions in the realities of current events, political conditions, and the health of financial institutions in each national economy.

Workers today began the process of transport and lifting into place the center arch span of the new Lake Champlain Bridge. A webcam showing the event (click HERE or see link below) offers still photos of the event. As of 2 pm Friday, August 26, the center arch was being positioned between the existing spans for installation. The first photo is of the final placement. The other photos show the progress of lifting the span into place
August 29 10 am

5 pm

3:45 pm

2:45 pm
Picture taken at 2:15 pm Friday August 26, 2011.

Entergy Nuclear's Indian Point Energy Center in New York, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts and Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station inVermont are continuing to track Hurricane Irene's path and potential for high winds and rainfall as the storm approaches New York and New England.
"Our nuclear plants are designed and built to withstand extreme weather," said John Herron, president and CEO of Entergy Nuclear. "Our team of expert personnel worked diligently this past week to ensure our plants are prepared for any impacts resulting from this storm."

Hundreds of contract utility and tree workers from as far away as Illinois, Missouri, Texas and Canada are on their way to assist Vermont utilities as Hurricane Irene bears down on the region. They are expected to arrive before the storm. Vermont crews and support staff are on standby, and supplies, lodging, food and other logistical details are being firmed up to ensure a strong response if the storm brings significant problems. Government officials are also coordinating efforts to assure the necessary resources are available.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) says this year’s 15th Annual Vermont Women’s Economic Opportunity Conference, set for Saturday, October 8, in Randolph, will feature a special guest: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Leahy said Justice Sotomayor will begin this year’s sessions with a question-and-answer forum with conference-goers.
‘Marcelle and I are delighted that she is coming to Vermont,’ said Leahy. ‘She personifies the American Dream, and her life and achievements already have inspired so many. She is a perfect match for this conference and its purpose.’

DISH Network, LLC will pay the State of Vermont $125,000 to resolve the Attorney General’s claims that it violated Vermont’s Consumer Fraud Act in mailings to consumers last summer. ‘Words like ‘urgent‟ ‘immediately‟ ‘necessary‟ and ‘free’ have significant meanings,’ said Attorney General William H Sorrell. ‘Using such language to trigger unnecessary action by Vermont consumers won’t be tolerated.’
In July 2010, DISH sent 310 letters to Vermont consumers. The letter included headings stating: ‘URGENT ACTION REQUIRED’ and ‘PLEASE READ IMMEDIATELY TO AVOID SERVICE INTERRUPTION OF YOUR HIGH DEFINITION PROGRAMMING.’ The letter further claimed that replacement of consumer equipment was ‘necessary’ and ‘free.’

Overall network performance levels for wireless handsets differ depending on whether devices are used for voice calling, text messaging or data service, according to the J.D. Power and Associates U.S. 2011 Wireless Network Quality Performance Study(SM)’Volume 2 released today.
The study finds that overall network performance varies widely by the type of activity being performed on the handset. For example, there are more reported problems among wireless customers while placing calls, compared with messaging and data-related activities. Overall, problems associated with calling, such as dropped calls, initial disconnects and audio issues, average 18 PP100. This compares with a reported 16 PP100 average for data-related issues, such as Web and email connection errors and excessively slow downloads. An even lower PP100 average is reported for messaging problems (5 PP100), such as transmission failures and late text messages.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded $28.3 million to 43 Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Other Related Disabilities (LEND) programs, including $550,000 to the University of Vermont, to help improve the health of infants, children, adolescents and young adults with neurodevelopmental and other related disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders.
LEND programs in communities across the United States prepare trainees from a wide variety of professional disciplines to assume leadership roles, ensure high levels of interdisciplinary clinical competence, and enhance the ability of clinicians to diagnose, treat, and manage complex disabilities in youth and adolescents. The programs also promote culturally competent, coordinated care and integrate families in all aspects of training and service.

Bernard Boutin passed away in Laconia, New Hampshire, on the evening of August 24, 2011. He was born in Laconia on July 2, and died peacefully after a short illness during which his family was constantly with him.
Mr. Boutin was a well known New Hampshire native and was prominent in national affairs throughout the 1960's. He was a valedictorian graduate of Saint Michael's College, Class of 1945 and Mayor of Laconia from 1955 to 1959. In 1958 and 1960 Mr. Boutin was New Hampshire's Democratic nominee for Governor. In 1959 and 1960, he was heavily involved in the primary and general election campaign of President John F. Kennedy, with whom he had a close relationship.