Current News

Entergy Corporation today announced it has provided to Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell the results of its independent internal investigation into alleged contradictory or misleading information provided to the state government by company officials about underground piping at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.
The report, prepared by the law firm of Morgan Lewis and Bockius LLP, did not find that any Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee employees intentionally misled the Vermont Public Service Board, the Department of Public Service, a Public Oversight Panel assessing the plant's reliability as part of its application for renewal of its operating license, or a contracting firm working for the panel, Nuclear Safety Associates.

During the recent visit of USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to Vermont, dairy industry leaders from across the state came together to present a statement on behalf of dairy producers encouraging Secretary Vilsack to address the issues and challenges of the dairy industry.
The statement is in response to the volatile milk pricing system that dairy farmers are subject to. In 2009 dairy producers experienced the lowest prices paid for fluid milk in decades with costs of production at an all time high. This, coupled with the world recession, is threatening to cripple the dairy industry in Vermont and across the region.

The back-to-back winter storm system that is working its way across New England knocked out power to more than 20,000 CVPS customers last night and this morning, and the storm is expected to continue throughout the day. However, this is only the first wave of the storm, as another system with potentially damaging high winds is expected Thursday and into Friday. As of noon today, CVPS had 10,500 customers still without power. Crews are working as quickly as they safely can today to make repairs, but CVPS continues to take additional outages as the heavy snow keeps coming down. The Rutland-based utility said it has 30 outside contract tree and line crews either on site or on the way today, and is working to secure more in anticipation of the second wave of this storm coming tomorrow afternoon and into Friday.
Outages were scattered across the state, with Addison, Rutland, Windham, Windsor and Franklin counties hardest hit thus far.

In a joint statement, Sovernet Communications of Bellows Falls, Vermont and Power Shift of Stowe, Vermont, announced today that Sovernet is acquiring the broadband services division of Power Shift. The move promises to deliver seamless Internet access to Power Shift customers. Current Power Shift DSL customers will not see service interruptions and Power Shift customer service will continue to provide support throughout the transition.
We are excited to welcome Power Shift s broadband customers and look forward to building long term relationships with our neighbors in the Stowe, Morrisville and Hardwick areas, notes Richard Kendall, president of Sovernet Communications. This acquisition furthers our commitment and investment into the expansion of both our voice and data services throughout Northern New England.

Central Vermont Public Service today appealed for donations to CVPS Shareheat, saying matching funds remain available for the low-income emergency fuel assistance program, but donations are lagging.
“The economy has taken a toll on donations, no doubt about it,” CVPS spokesman Steve Costello said. “Thanks to our Shareheat business partners and shareholders, we still have $68,000 available to match contributions from the public, but those donations are coming in at a trickle.”
CVPS Shareheat began the winter campaign with $100,000 from CVPS shareholders and received more than $50,000 from a roster of business partners for the matching pool.
“Since the program began in 1987, donations have leveraged every dollar of matching funds available,” Costello said. “We hope that will be true this year too, but we have a long way to go.”

Senate Majority Leader John Campbell issued the following statement today regarding the Vermont Yankee debate and the timing of the Senate vote on the question of continued operation of the plant. The Senate is scheduled to vote tomorrow on the question of whether to relicense the nuclear power plant for another 20 years beyond its license expiration in 2010. Yesterday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission confirmed that a tritium leak from an underground piping system was found in 2005.

The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) will recognize Vermont Public Television with a 2010 EDGE Award to for demonstrating the great potential of digital television. The EDGE Awards are presented annually to public television stations that use digital technology, groundbreaking partnerships, and educational technologies to deliver innovative services to their communities.
“This year our EDGE Award recipients have a common theme—they use their broadcast and other resources to draw upon the energy and engagement around some of the most pressing issues affecting our country—jobs, education and health care,” said Larry Sidman, President and CEO of APTS. “These projects show that stations are moving beyond traditional broadcast and are engaging their communities in new and innovative ways. Audiences are reached through over-the-air, online, and on-the-ground partnerships, impacting their communities in ways that really set them apart.”

Vtrim, an online behavioral weight management program developed at the University of Vermont, and Vermont based HRSentry have partnered to offer the Vtrim Online program to employers nationwide.
“The goal of Vtrim is sustainable, long-term weight loss.” noted Beth Casey Gold, M.S., R.D., Vtrim’s Director of Corporate Programming. “Vtrim teaches participants how to manage what they eat; versus food restriction...weight loss follows naturally.”
HRSentry’s CEO, Dean Haller said, “Health care costs are a major drain on business revenues…Vtrim’s clinically proven approach supports our mission to provide employers with HR programs that cut risk, enhance productivity and build the bottom line long-term.”
The Vtrim interactive, online model is based on 18 years of research by Jean Harvey-Berino, Ph.D., R.D., an obesity researcher at the University of Vermont. Participants typically lose an average of 1-2 pounds per week over the course of the program.

Vermont Public Television, in collaboration with Vermont Law School, the University of Vermont College of Medicine and the Vermont office of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, will receive a 2010 EDGE Award from the Association of Public Television Stations for the “Minds on the Edge: Facing Mental Illness” project.
The EDGE Awards are presented annually to public television stations that use digital technology, groundbreaking partnerships and educational technologies to deliver innovative services to their communities.
The “Minds on the Edge” project included television broadcasts, a legal symposium and Web-based and on-the-ground community meetings as part of a month-long campaign in October 2009 to raise public awareness about the challenges, solutions and impact of mental illness on Vermont communities.

A statement from Vermont Yankee Monday night reported that excavation near underground piping thought to be the source of a tritium leak was making progress; it also said that a drinking water well in the general area of the test wells that have showed elevated levels of the radioactive isotope will be taken out of service as a precaution, even though it is well beneath the test wells and has not shown in testing to contain tritium; and that a "parent guarantee" of $40 million from Entergy to the Vermont Yankee decommissioning fund has been approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

According to a statement from Entergy Vermont Yankee Sunday night, the source of the tritium leak has not yet been definitively identified nor has the status of the situation changed much at the Vernon site. Vermont Yankee engineers and technicians continue their investigation into the source of tritium in the plant s groundwater.
The last inspection of the Advanced Off Gas concrete pipe tunnel using a boroscope revealed little change in conditions over the past week. Any water in the tunnel continues to be collected in a sump and removed. Plans continue to test for leakage paths to the ground from the tunnel floor using pure water. This will help determine if and where the tunnel theoretically may be leaking water into the ground. This test will be performed after excavation exposes the tunnel floor so that technicians might be able to observe any leakage paths. Water used during the test will be collected and processed through plant systems.

Champlain College s Emergent Media Center is the recipient of three gifts, totaling $21,000, given in honor of former Dwight Asset Management CEO Laura Dagan s 22 years of service to the company and her recent retirement.
The financial gifts from Dwight Asset Management, its parent company, Old Mutual Asset Management and its client, Graybar Electric Company, were presented to Ann DeMarle, director of Champlain College s Emergent Media Center (EMC).
Dwight Asset wanted to thank and honor Laura for more than two decades of service to our company and the community with these gifts, said David J. Thompson, Dwight s CEO and President. Supporting the EMC and the project they are currently working on with the Population Media Center and the United Nations Population Fund to create an e-game designed to help reduce violence against women, fit perfectly with Laura s desire to make a significant difference in the community.