As over 7,000 students start classes at the Community College of Vermont’s 12 locations this month, CCV is marking its 40th anniversary.In 1970, CCV’s founders imagined a place of open access to education and opportunity for all Vermonters, especially those working adults who at the time had very few options for attending college. In its 40-year history, CCV has not only experienced dramatic enrollment growth but has also expanded the programs and services it offers to students of all ages. As a critically important resource to the state, CCV has helped tens of thousands of Vermonters enter college, earn a degree, continue their studies at four-year institutions, and achieve secure employment. To fulfill its mission of access, affordability, and student success, the college has developed an extensive network of partnerships with employers, state agencies, high schools, other colleges, and community organizations across the state.Today, CCV serves more Vermonters than any other college in the state, and its classrooms are located within 25 miles of 95% of Vermont’s population. CCV also offers an extensive roster of online classes.One of the five Vermont State Colleges, CCV has been accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges since 1975. CCV’s tuition remains the lowest of any college in Vermont, and financial aid is available to qualified students. Vermont residents over 65 are eligible for a tuition waiver.Source: CCV. 9.20.2010. For more information on the Community College of Vermont visit www.ccv.edu(link is external) or call 800-CCV-6686.
Union Bank,At the annual staff meeting held yesterday after the close of business, President and Chief Executive Officer Kenneth D Gibbons announced the results of the Board of Directors’ search for his successor as President of Union Bank (the ‘Bank’) and Union Bankshares, Inc. David S Silverman, 49, a Senior Vice President of the Bank and Vice President of the Company, was unanimously selected by the Boards of both companies at a joint meeting on November 3. Silverman was also appointed a director of the Bank by the Bankshares Board, as of November 17.In accordance with the management succession plan adopted by the Board last July, Silverman will become President of both companies on April 1, 2011, and CEO in May 2012. Gibbons will become Board Chair upon the retirement of current Board Chair, Richard C Sargent, at the annual meeting of shareholders in May 2011, and will remain as CEO during the management transition year of May 2011 to May 2012. It is also expected that Silverman will stand for election to the company’s Board of Directors at the 2011 annual meeting.Silverman began employment with Union Bank in 1986, and over the years has progressed through various departments and positions to his current Bank positions of Senior Vice President, Senior Lending Officer and Head of Marketing. He has also served as a Vice President of the Company since 2008. Silverman holds a BA in Business Management from Johnson State College and is very active within the community, currently serving as Chair of Community Health Services of Lamoille Valley. He previously has served as Treasurer and Executive Committee member of the Stowe Area Association, member of the Morristown Development Review Board and past Board member of Lamoille County Mental Health.Silverman resides in Morrisville with his wife, Janet.‘The Board and I are particularly pleased with David’s selection as my successor. He possesses not only a solid knowledge of the banking business, including credit underwriting and administration skills, but also possesses invaluable institutional knowledge about the Company and familiarity with our employees, customers and market area. David’s skills and insights will help to ensure a smooth transition and provide continuity, which is important during any transition of this nature,’ stated Ken Gibbons, President and CEO.Commenting on this phase of the Company’s succession plan, Board Chair Richard Sargent said, ‘Ken has provided exceptional leadership for the Company during his 20 years at the helm, shepherding it through both high-growth and recessionary times. The Board is confident that David shares these strong leadership qualities. We look forward to working with Ken and David to implement a smooth and successful leadership transition in the next year and a half.’Union Bankshares, Inc, with headquarters in Morrisville, Vermont, is the bank holding company parent of Union Bank, a full service bank offering deposit, loan, trust and commercial banking services throughout northern Vermont and northwestern New Hampshire. As of September 30, 2010, the Company had $451 million in consolidated assets, $377 million in consolidated deposits and operates 13 banking offices and 29 ATM facilities in Vermont, a branch and ATM in Littleton, New Hampshire, and a loan center in South Burlington, Vermont.Statements made in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements necessarily involve risks and uncertainties, and many factors could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements. When we use any of the words ‘believes,’ ‘expects,’ ‘anticipates’ or similar expressions, we are making forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results and events to differ from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements: uncertainties associated with general economic conditions; changes in the interest rate environment; inflation; political, legislative or regulatory developments; acts of war or terrorism; the markets’ acceptance of and demand for the Company’s products and services; technological changes, including the impact of the internet on the Company’s business and on the financial services market place generally; the impact of competitive products and pricing; and dependence on third party suppliers. For further information, please refer to the Company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov(link is external). Source: Union Bank/Union Bankshares, Inc. Morrisville, Vermont, November 19, 2010 (NASDAQ: UNB) ‘
AttachmentSize 2011-02-28_Decision-Order_Motion_for_Summary_Judgment_1.pdf344.05 KB Omya Inc,Vermont Environmental Court Judge Meridith Wright has vacated Omya’s solid waste disposal certification, ruling that the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) must conduct a public trust analysis when issuing a waste disposal certification because the company’s marble processing activities may impact the groundwater.Wright’s ruling, which remands Omya’s final certification to the ANR to perform this analysis, is the first interpretation of Vermont’s 2008 law designating groundwater of the State as a public trust resource. The ANR must incorporate the public trust analysis required by Vermont’s groundwater protection law into the solid waste certification process, she ruled. Wright made her ruling Monday and notified the parties in the case today. Omya may appeal today’s ruling to the Vermont Supreme Court.Vermont Law School’s Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic ‘has played an important part in establishing a groundbreaking precedent that will help protect the groundwater resources of the state for future generations of Vermonters,’ said ENRLC Acting Director Teresa Clemmer.For years, Omya has dumped its waste into unlined pits, which has caused the groundwater under its mineral processing facility in Florence, Vermont, to become contaminated with arsenic and aminoethyl ethanolamine, according to the lead ENRLC attorney on the case, Sheryl Dickey.On behalf of the citizens group Residents Concerned about Omya (RCO), the ENRLC filed appeals challenging solid-waste and Act 250 permits issued by the ANR that allow Omya to dispose of its calcium carbonate waste. RCO has been advocating for protection of the groundwater in the vicinity of the Omya facility for more than seven years. In 2008, the ENRLC appealed ANR’s issuance of Omya’s interim solid waste certification to the Environmental Court. In 2010, the ENRLC appealed, again to the Environmental Court, the ANR’s issuance of Omya’s final certification. More than 21 student clinicians at the ENRLC have been involved in the case over the years.Vermont Law School, a private, independent institution, has the top-ranked environmental law program and one of the top-ranked clinical training programs in the nation, according to U.S.News & World Report. VLS offers a Juris Doctor curriculum that emphasizes public service, a Master of Environmental Law and Policy degree and two post-JD degrees, the Master of Laws in Environmental Law and the LLM in American Legal Studies (for international students). The school features innovative experiential programs and is home to the Environmental Law Center and the South Royalton Legal Clinic. For more information, visit www.vermontlaw.edu(link is external).
Vermont Law School,When my students first begin to study law, they have a tendency to focus on the holding of the case, such as ‘Preliminary Injunction Denied.’ It’s like reading the headlines in a newspaper. But any good lawyer knows that the most important part of the decision is often found in the footnotes. And in Judge Murtha’s decision denying Entergy a preliminary injunction, the footnotes say far more than the headline.But let’s start with the headline: Yes, Judge Murtha ruled no preliminary injunction because Entergy did not convince him that it would suffer irreparable harm between now and the September 12 hearing on the merits. Judge Murtha essentially called Entergy’s bluff. To paraphrase the decision: ‘You’re really going to shut the plant down in the next two months if I don’t grant the injunction? Really? I don’t think so.’ The decision to either order new fuel rods or suspend operation is a business decision made difficult by litigation, but any harm to Entergy is neither likely nor imminent. Judge Murtha went out of his way to state that he is not making any ruling on the likelihood Entergy will ultimately prevail.Entergy didn’t get the preliminary injunction, but it also didn’t lose the case. If you read the footnotes, you will see that Judge Murtha has tipped his hand about the merits of the case. Or at least he has signaled to the state that it better have some answers to some hard questions he’ll be asking.Let’s start with footnote #2: Here it is (and I have taken the liberty of highlighting the important stuff) :Defendants argue the Vermont Senate’s February 23, 2010, 26-4 vote against reading Senate bill S. 289 for a third time amounts to ‘no legislative action’ on Vermont Yankee’s petition. (Prelim. Inj. Hr’g Tr. at 130:3-21, June 24, 2010 (Doc. 83).)The ‘Legislative Policy and Purpose’ section of Act 160 suggests ‘the general assembly,’ which comprises two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives, ‘shall grant the approval or deny the approval’ of a petition for operation and storage of spent nuclear fuel beyond March 21, 2012. 2006 Vt. Laws 160 § 1(f) (LexisNexis). The substantive provision of the enactment speaks only of ‘approval’ and appears to allow inaction by the Senate to prohibit continued operation. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 30, § 248(e)(2). The State’s position is that Vermont’s statutes do not require a final determination of a petition and Acts 74 and 160 themselves amount to a decision to prohibit continued operation. (Hr’g Tr. 132:19-24, 134:22-24, 135:2-13 (’a decision was made in Act 74 and Act 160â ³ although the legislature is ‘always free to take it up’).) Vermont Yankee’s petition for a renewed license, filed March 3, 2008, is in a suspended docket before the Public Service Board. Entergy argues that because this legislative inaction, which amounts to a one-house ‘pocket veto,’ is to be given significant executive effect, this Court may consider events in 2010 in determining Entergy’s claim that Act 160 is preempted as applied. Id. at 62:9-13, 40:8-11, 68:25-69:2. The arguments on this question may warrant further development at trial. It is also unclear to the Court how a legislative scheme that does not require final determination of a renewal petition for a nuclear plant is compatible with the safe decommissioning of a plant. Cf. 10 C.F.R. § 2.109(c).Translation: The Court is concerned that the statute giving the Legislature the power shut down Vermont Yankee by simply doing nothing, thereby placing VY in legal limbo, may be seriously flawed. And if Vermont loses because the statute does not have the proper checks and balances among the branches of government, nor the proper due process requirements, then the Court never has to get to the harder legal question of field preemption.Now let’s look at footnote #3 (I have again highlighted the important parts):The Court is aware the challenged statutes contain words that may or may not permit consideration of preempted grounds for granting or denying certificates of public good, and that the legislative history of the challenged enactments contains numerous references to ‘safety,’ some of which may be problematic, some of which may merely reflect legislators’ responsible recognition that Vermont cannot regulate radiological health and safety. Act 189 commissioned a study of ‘reliability,’ which initiated ongoing oversight at Vermont Yankee that appears to examine numerous aspects of radiological safety affecting reliability. It is not clear if reliabilityoversight pursuant to that enactment is still ongoing. The Court believes the parties’ arguments warrant further development on full evidence offered at a trial on the merits.Translation: Vermont must convince this Court that the statutes in question were not enacted because of radiological concerns. The Court is not yet convinced. This is critically important and the crux of Entergy’s case. If Vermont can’t convince Judge Murtha that the Legislature was regulating for reasons other than safety, then, again, the Court never has to reach the harder legal question of field preemptionHere’s what is NOT in any footnote or in the decision: the Memorandum of Understanding. Not even a passing reference. Judge Murtha told the parties in footnotes #2 and #3 the issues on which the case will proceed ‘ the procedural integrity of the law, and the rationale behind the legislature’s actions. The argument that Entergy waived the right to bring this lawsuit or that it has breached its contract with Vermont is MIA (missing in action), and DOA (dead on appeal).Bottom line from the footnotes: Judge Murtha hasn’t yet made up his mind on the merits, but he strikes me as skeptical about Vermont’s case. As one of my colleagues noted after reading the opinion, the state better get its act together for the trial. But given the actions of the Vermont Legislature that lead to this case, it may be too late. [1][1] Just a final thought: My colleagues and I have often suggested that this case could ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. I am not so sure of that anymore. If Entergy ultimately prevails on the issues from footnotes #2 or #3, then there is really no pressing legal issue for the highest Court to address. If the trial Court finds as a matter of fact that the statutes have some fatal flaws, the Second Circuit is likely to give deference to those findings. It is only if Vermont wins the case on the merits that the Supreme Court would have to address whether a state that refuses to issue a certificate of public good because of concerns other than safety is still preempted from doing so because Congress has occupied the field and never intended states to have such power. In light of Judge Murtha’s opinion, it is just not clear to me that any Court will reach that question. Of course, like any good unpaid talking head, I reserve the right to change my opinion. July 19, 2011. Cheryl Hanna is a lawyer and professor at Vermont Law School.
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Ski Vermont partners with Consortium of Vermont Colleges to boost tourism and enrollment
Getting a ‘higher education’ in Vermont takes a deeper meaning today as the Consortium of Vermont Colleges (CVC) — and Ski Vermont announce a partnership expected to boost both tourism and enrollment at Vermont’s many public and private institutions of higher education.CVC and Ski Vermont share a passion for providing high quality, transformative experiences, whether on campus or in Vermont’s mountains, said Nate Ball from Vermont Technical College and chairman of the council’s promotions committee. ‘Vermont’s colleges and mountains make a positive and a lasting impression in the minds and hearts of our students and visitors. Partnered with Ski Vermont, we will invite more young people’and the young at heart’to enjoy all that Vermont has to offer in the winter. The ultimate goal is to recruit fresh, ambitious minds to pursue higher education in Vermont, where they can ski and snowboard and hopefully stay to help Vermont’s economy grow and prosper,’ Ball said.‘Vermont’s mountain resorts, like its institutions of higher education, play vital roles in Vermont’s economy, environment and communities,’ said Ski Vermont President Parker Riehle.‘Our partnership with Vermont’s higher education institutions creates a powerful alignment of brands and reinforces that Vermont, and learning, skiing and snowboarding here, is as much a state of mind’a lifestyle’as a physical place,’ Riehle continued. ‘These lasting connections ultimately have the potential to inspire graduates and prospective students alike to support the state’s economic, social and environmental initiatives.’Affiliation with Ski Vermont provides CVC with the potential to target millions of winter enthusiasts from around the globe’many with children’who visit Vermont to experience all that winter offers.Ski Vermont and CVC will coordinate Internet, digital and social marketing efforts, work collaboratively to generate earned media, cross promote in printed material, and share access to consumer events and trade shows throughout the northeast and in key international markets.ABOUT SKI VERMONTSki Vermont (Vermont Ski Areas Association) serves its 18 Alpine and 30 Nordic member resorts in three major areas: governmental affairs, marketing and public affairs. It is a private non-profit trade association founded in 1969 to foster a legislative, economic and social environment in which the state’s ski industry can grow and prosper. The association’s priorities include environmental integrity, enhancing economic and social contributions to the state’s welfare, and promoting Vermont as the premier destination for winter tourism. Ski Vermont: Winter in its Original State. For more information, visit www.skivermont.com(link is external). ABOUT CVCThe Consortium of Vermont Colleges is a collaboration of 20 colleges and universities in the State of Vermont. The CVC is committed to sharing the wealth and diversity of opportunities for higher education in Vermont with potential students throughout the state, across the country and around the globe. To learn more, visit www.vtcolleges.org(link is external).
FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailPrint分享Utility Dive:The number of wind power purchase agreements (PPA) signed last quarter was the highest volume of PPA announcements in any quarter since AWEA began tracking them in 2013.AWEA noted that six companies, including Adobe, AT&T and Nestle, signed wind PPAs for the first time while several other corporations were repeat customers. Utilities also stepped up to the plate, with PacifiCorp announcing plans for a $2 billion wind farm in Wyoming. In March, DTE Energy submitted a proposal to regulators for 1,000 MW of wind farms that would be completed by 2022.The two main factors contributing to the increase in projects are the greater certainty around tax policy and the fact that developers are eager to meet the deadlines imposed by the congressionally mandated phase out of the production tax credit (PTC), Keith Martin, a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, told Utility Dive.The PTC, which provides an incentive payout for the first 10 years of a wind farm’s life, has been a driving force in the growth of wind power, as has the financial structures that have allowed financial institutions to monetize the value of tax credits. Those structures have expanded the market beyond the relatively few entities that are in a position to make use of the tax credits.Even though the value of the PTC is cut by 20% for 2018 projects, under Internal Revenue Service rules, projects that had already begun work on equipment or at a project site in 2016 are still eligible to collect 100% of the PTC. That prompted a lot of developers to buy and stockpile wind turbines. Based on stockpiled equipment from 2016 there are about 40,000 MW of wind projects in the wings with another 10,000 MW of equipment stockpiled in 2017.More: Wind Power Poised For Record Year, Despite Initial Tax Law Concerns U.S. Wind Power PPAs Hit Record Level Last Quarter
U.K. to require companies to release energy use, CO2 data FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailPrint分享Reuters:The British government will force large companies to report their energy use, carbon dioxide emissions and energy efficiency measures in their annual reports from April next year, it said on Wednesday.The government said it wants businesses and industry to improve energy efficiency by at least 20 percent by 2030.A previous company reporting scheme, called the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, was too complex for businesses and will be closed. The new framework will simplify and streamline reporting requirements.“The government has decided that the new framework will apply to all quoted companies and apply to large UK incorporated unquoted companies and large LLPs (limited liability partnerships) with at least 250 employees or annual turnover greater than 36 million pounds ($47 million) and annual balance sheet total greater than 18 million pounds,” the department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said in a statement.More: UK government to force large companies to report CO2 emissions from April 2019
FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailPrint分享WYMT:An eastern Kentucky utility says it is looking to add up to 20 megawatts of solar energy to meet growing customer interest in solar options.Kentucky Power says it’s also looking to diversify its electric generation mix.The company is seeking bids for solar resources to be purchased. As part of the process, Kentucky Power says it may buy solar facilities from winning bidders meeting certain economic and operational criteria.To qualify for consideration, projects must be located within Kentucky Power’s service territory. Qualifying projects must be operational by Dec. 31, 2021.Currently, Kentucky Power generates about 81 percent of 2,240 megawatts of electricity supplied to its customers using coal and about 19 percent with natural gas. Kentucky Power provides electric service to about 168,000 customers in 20 eastern Kentucky counties.More: Eastern Kentucky power company adding solar energy to the mix Coal-dominated Kentucky Power seeks solar bids
FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailPrint分享Westword:For over a century, fossil fuels have been more than just the world’s primary energy source; they’ve been a bedrock of the global financial system, an engine of economic growth and a safe investment for governments, pension funds, charitable endowments and other institutions around the world. If we hope to stop climate change before its effects become catastrophic, that will inevitably have to change — and many climate activists want it to change as soon as possible.“Public money is being invested in companies that are directly contributing to climate change,” says Deborah McNamara, an activist with the Colorado Coalition for a Livable Climate, which includes more than two dozen environmental and social-justice groups from around the state. “Here in Colorado, money is being invested in fracking companies. Do we want our public money being invested in these companies that are polluting our air and water?”After years of disappointment, the “Fossil Free” investing movement has picked up steam around the world and in Colorado, where — despite opposition from the state’s powerful oil and gas industry — it’s won some small victories, including an announcement last month that the City and County of Denver plans to dump its investments in fossil fuel companies.Like previous movements to discourage investment in Big Tobacco or apartheid South Africa, many advocates for fossil fuel divestment object to supporting oil, gas and coal development on moral grounds. The burning of fossil fuels is warming the climate to the point of global catastrophe, and they argue that it’s unethical for public institutions like PERA to continue to fund the industry.But an important difference between campaigns like Fossil Free PERA and other divestment efforts is that when it comes to fossil fuels, there’s increasingly a financial argument to be made for divestment, too. As the world continues to transition away from fossil fuels in the coming decades, investments in oil and gas are at risk of becoming “stranded assets,” suffering sharp declines in value that leave institutional investors like pension funds on the hook for billions, or even trillions, in losses.“If you look at what happened to coal in the last decade, those assets have done incredibly poorly,” says Dan Carreno, an analyst with Change Finance, a sustainability-focused investment firm. “We’re starting to see the exact same thing happen with natural gas, relative to wind and solar. And we could see the same thing happen with oil.”More: Can the fossil fuel divestment movement win in oil-rich Colorado? Fossil fuel divestment efforts begin to take hold in oil-rich Colorado
FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailPrint分享S&P Global Market Intelligence ($):ExxonMobil expects investments in the global LNG sector to slow as the market works through a supply glut that has pushed prices to record lows, CEO Darren Woods told financial analysts during a Jan. 31 earnings call.“Investments in that space will probably slow,” Woods said. “Eventually, the demand will catch up to the supply and things will improve…It’s the same dynamic of capital-intensive long-cycle investments.” The CEO’s comments reflected an LNG market that has grown increasingly bearish for the near term because of weak winter demand for natural gas and the startup of new LNG export plants.Woods suggested there is a lack of urgency at his company to greenlight new LNG export infrastructure in the oversupplied environment and said new projects will have to compete within the existing portfolio. Responding to a question over media reports that negotiations broke down between Exxon and the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government over a key political agreement for a gas deal that the PNG LNG export project needs to advance to construction, Woods said there is no rush to develop the project, which used to have a target for a final investment decision, or FID, in 2020.The Platts Japan Korea Marker, the benchmark price for spot-traded LNG in Northeast Asia, hit a more than 10-year low when it dropped under $4/MMBtu on Jan. 23, according to S&P Global Platts. Margins have also weakened for selling spot LNG cargoes to Europe. In the U.S., the oversupply picture is spurring increasing concern that profits could weaken to the point that shipments from U.S. LNG facilities will be curtailed and send prices in the domestic market to uncharted lows.Woods did not specifically address the route the company would take to sanction multibillion-dollar LNG export projects. Exxon and Qatar Petroleum took a relatively novel approach when they commercially sanctioned the Golden Pass LNG project in Texas in February 2019. That was because the partners went forward without announcing any long-term off-take agreements for the project, which will be able to produce around 16 million tonnes per annum of LNG. Most developers have relied on long-term take-or-pay contracts to allow them to secure financing for their projects.Few backers of LNG projects in the world have deep-enough pockets to take this approach in advancing a project to construction. But some market observers have warned the approach could heighten the risk of overbuilding supply to meet an expected surge in demand in the mid-2020s. [Corey Paul]More ($): Exxon predicts waning investment in global LNG amid supply glut ExxonMobil’s Woods still betting on long-term growth in global LNG market