Utility seeks rate hike to make up for virus-related losses
May 20, 2021
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BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) The Burlington Electric Department is proposing a rate increase for the first time in a dozen years to make up for pandemic-related losses.
The utility wants to raise the rate 7.5%, which on average means an increase of about $60 for residential housing and $80 more a year for the average commercial building, WCAX-TV reported.
“Raising rates is an absolute last resort measure for us, which is why we’ve been able to go 12 years without doing so,” said Burlington Electric’s General Manager Darren Springer.
While residential electricity use increased early in the pandemic as many people stayed home, commercial use, which makes up about 75% of the utility s income, plunged.
Vermont makes progress in carbon reduction in new state report vermontbiz.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from vermontbiz.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Gabe Lourie-Wisbaum (left) and Steven Wisbaum Steven Wisbaum wasn t always obsessed with electric lawn mowers. Since 1996, he s been the founding owner of Charlotte-based CV Compost, which provides custom products to home gardeners, farmers and landscape contractors. But around 2009, spurred by concerns about the climate crisis and needing to replace his cohousing community s shared lawn mower, Wisbaum sought to reduce his fossil fuel use. He experimented with using biodiesel in company equipment and in the mower, but it caused mechanical problems. So he went looking for electric alternatives. By 2017, Wisbaum was the Vermont sales rep for Mean Green Mowers, an Ohio-based electric mower manufacturer. Aiming to convince people who were skeptical that these more expensive mowers could perform as well as gas ones, he became an electric lawn care evangelist, giving demonstrations, attending fairs and working with electric utilities
Burlingtonians, beware: there s a new scam call making the rounds in the Queen City.
This time, the caller is purporting to be a Burlington Electric Department employee. The caller threatens to shut off customers electric service if they don t agree to provide personal information or payment, the utility wrote May 7 in a post on Twitter.
Burlington Electric Department had received more than one report of the attempted scam. We recommend you don t provide payment or personal info; engage with the caller; or call them back, the utility wrote.
What to do if you get a suspected scam call
People who receive calls they suspect are scams should not provide any personal information or send payment. They can, however, call the purported business, agency or utility directly to check whether the caller was legitimate, law enforcement have said.
Outcomes on first two rounds of Grant Awards show positive community impact
Vermont Business Magazine Applications for the BTV Ignite STEM and Technical Skill Grant Fund are open now and remain open through July 23, 2021.
The STEM & Technical Skill Fund, provided by Burlington Telecom, is a competitive process open to Burlington-based non-profit or entrepreneurial support organizations well-positioned to support teaching technical skills, STEM education, and workforce development for the Burlington youth and workforce, principally those for whom this would create new economic opportunities.
Applicants may apply for grants ranging in value from $5,000 to $50,000 per year of grant award. In response to feedback from prior applicants and grantees, BTV Ignite will for the first time consider applications requesting multiple year allocations as a pilot program seeking to deepen the applicant pool interest.