In Addison County, solar hot water takes off

Since the inception of a new program this fall, 95 houses in Addison County have installed solar hot water heating systems.

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Efficiency Vermont unveils two-year energy initiative

Efficiency Vermont launched the Energy Leadership Challenge, a new initiative to reduce the energy consumption of the state's leading businesses and institutions over the next two years. Governor Shumlin strongly supported the program at its launch. "There's no cheaper kilowatt than the one you don't use," he said.

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Lowell wind gets greenlight from PSB

State utility regulators say an industrial sized wind farm is in the state's best interest. A major victory for the Kingdom Community Wind Project -- a joint effort of Green Mountain Power and the Vermont Electric Co-op.

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Administration Wants To Identify Areas Off Limits To Wind Energy

The Shumlin administration hopes to ease some of the controversy over wind energy by identifying what areas should be off limits to energy developers.

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Kingdom Wind: Photo montages show vying perspectives

The Jan. 30 front page of the Burlington Free Press featured a dramatic visual simulation of the Kingdom Community Wind turbines. The image showed 17 wind towers dominating a mountaintop in Lowell. 

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Pres. Obama's Efficiency Plans Mirror Welch Legislation

In his effort to "win the future," Pres. Barack Obama is proposing two new energy-efficiency programs that mirror legislation introduced in the last Congress by Rep. Peter Welch.

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Biologists Raise Questions About Lowell Wind Project

State biologists have raised questions about how a wind energy development planned for the Lowell mountain range in the Northeast Kingdom might affect wildlife in the region.

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Biomass Busted? Why Wood-Fired Power Is Catching Heat in Vermont

Is biomass the solution to Vermont’s energy problems or the next big threat to our health and environment? Virtually every candidate in the recent governor’s race — including Republican Brian Dubie — championed the idea of burning wood for heat and electricity as a clean and renewable alternative to fossil fuels. Plus, biomass can provide crucial base-load electric power — something neither intermittent wind nor solar power can do.

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Energy efficient state archives to save 73,200 kWh and $17,500 annually

The Vermont State Department of Buildings and General Services and Efficiency Vermont recently collaborated on the expansion and renovation of the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration (VSARA) building in Middlesex. The building preserves some of the State’s most important public documents in an energy-efficient building that also will generate long-term savings for taxpayers. Former Secretary of State, Governor Jim Douglas was an ardent supporter of this project and he was joined by legislators Senator Phil Scott and Representative Alice Emmons in dedicating this state-of-the-art building in May of this year.

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Raising Money By Making Polluters Pay

A "cap-and-trade" climate-change proposal is stalled in Washington. But a similar program has been up and running in ten states from Maine to Delaware for two years. The goal is to make polluters pay while raising hundreds of million of dollars for conservation. Yet critics say some states are using the revenue to shore up their budgets, rather than to conserve energy.

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CVPS receives go ahead for $61 million SmartPower project

The Public Service Board has given final approval for Central Vermont Public Service Corp. to move forward with a $60 million investment that will transform the way customers use their electricity. Dubbed SmartPower, CVPS will replace all 160,000 meters with ones that will allow customers to control how much electricity they use. “The prospect that consumers across Vermont and New England will be able to respond to price signals and thus reduce peak demand over time is a central benefit of the Smart Grid and AMI (alternative metering infrastructure) specifically,” the PSB wrote in its Aug. 6 decision.

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Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund awards $334,765 in grants for biofuels projects

The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund has awarded $334,765 in grant funds to develop local biofuels and foster the development of a viable biomass-to-biofuels industry in Vermont that uses local resources to replace petroleum with renewable alternatives. Ellen Kahler, VSJF Executive Director, stated that the “catastrophe of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is yet another reminder of the consequences of our dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels for energy.  As the devastating ecological, cultural, and economic consequences of the spill unfold in the Gulf of Mexico, Vermont is continuing to explore opportunities for entrepreneurs, farmers, educators and others to develop renewable, sustainable energy alternatives. “

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Vermont seeks to leverage success in weatherization numbers

Vermont leads the nation in meeting goals for weatherizing low-income homes using stimulus funds, and a state official says that merits some special consideration from the federal government. Shaun Donahue, director of the state’s Office of Economic Opportunity, said he’s asked federal energy officials to give unused stimulus weatherization money — assuming there is any once the program ends — to states that meet or exceed their goals.

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Vermont's Public Service Board approves wind farm on Georgia Mountain

Developers of a three- to five-turbine commercial-scale wind project on the Georgia-Milton town line — the first project of its kind in Chittenden County — received a certificate of public good Monday from the state Public Service Board. The board concluded Georgia Mountain Community Wind’s anticipated annual output (it would supply about 3,500 Vermont homes with their electrical needs) and its relatively benign effect on natural resources outweigh critics’ claims the project would diminish the view and property values.

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Vermont Energy Investment Corp. and American Municipal Power to create “efficiency smart power plant”

The Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC) and American Municipal Power, Inc. (AMP) have signed a contract for VEIC to provide a wide range of energy-efficiency and implementation services for the municipal electric utility members of the Columbus, Ohio-based nonprofit wholesale power supplier. AMP’s 128 publicly-owned municipal electric system members serve more than 570,000 customers in six states: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia. The goal of the new venture, known as the “Efficiency Smart Power Plant,” is to encourage residential, business and industrial customers to adopt cost-effective energy efficiency services that provide reliable and verifiable cost savings.

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