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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums100% of power for Vermont city now renewable
Vermonts largest city has a new success to add to its list of socially conscious achievements: 100 percent of its electricity now comes from renewable sources such as wind, water, and biomass.
With little fanfare, the Burlington Electric Department crossed the threshold this month with the purchase of the 7.4-megawatt Winooski 1 hydroelectric project on the Winooski River at the citys edge.
When it did, Burlington joined the Washington Electric Co-operative, which has about 11,000 customers across central and northern Vermont and which reached 100 percent earlier this year.
It shows that were able to do it, and were able to do it cost effectively in a way that makes Vermonters really positioned well for the future, said Christopher Recchia, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Service.
Its part of a broader movement that includes a statewide goal of getting 90 percent of Vermonts energy from renewable resources by 2050, including electricity, heating, and transportation. Across the state, Vermonters are urging their electric utilities to provide them with renewable sources of power, and the utilities are listening, Recchia said.
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http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/09/14/vermont-milestone-green-energy-efforts/fsLHJl4eoqv6QoFNewRYBK/story.html
LuvNewcastle
(16,844 posts)the poor oil companies. Why, if we didn't give them their little ole subsidies every year, cities like Burlington might just bust them.
Hoppy
(3,595 posts)Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)'biomass' is only a small part of it. You're burning wood pellets, switchgrass or whatever, and you're still putting out carbon.
Still, it's an amazing achievement. Vermont leads the country on so many fronts.
ReRe
(10,597 posts)Think of the possibilities if he was elected President. Maybe he could bring some of that Vermont ingenuity on renewable energy to the White House with him. Just thinking...
cali
(114,904 posts)in most respects. It's tiny. It's rural. It's overwhelmingly liberal. Burlington, for example, has a population of 42,000- and its by far the biggest "city" in the state. It also has abundant water.
ReRe
(10,597 posts)Step, by step, by step and boom! You're there! I understand what you're saying, though.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Alternative energy is doable everywhere. Here in California, we also have the ocean, and the tides could be a source of energy, the salt water a source of water.
We have what we need. We just need to use what we have. We can live well without burning so much carbon-based fuel. We need to save petroleum for the many, many uses other than fuel. We are wasting petroleum and ruining our environment. We have to change if we are to survive.
cali
(114,904 posts)I agree there needs to be the will to change the status quo- and go up against the forces that fight to maintain it.
RoccoR5955
(12,471 posts)So can many other cities and other areas.
NYC has a vast resource of untapped tidal energy.
When I proposed that they use it back in 1976, my City Councilman said that I was crazy.
I wonder how they will feel now.
Oh, I don't live in NYC any more, but have been a proponent of small scale hydro for a long time. About a dozen people here are using my simple design. It may not be much, but it's a start.
aikoaiko
(34,169 posts)First Speaker
(4,858 posts)...given a GOP President in 2017--or even a GOP Congress next year--and the corrupt GOP judges everywhere, and the reach and money of people like the Kochs...well, they can't let *this* go on for long. It might give the rest of the country ideas...