Energy Law

It raises the cost of doing business. But Bret Williams said there?s more to business than just the bottom line to consider.

As president of Green Mountain Beverage, the maker of Woodchuck Hard Cider, Williams made the commitment to buy 25 percent of his electricity through Cow Power ? the manure-to-energy program run by the state?s largest electric utility.

For a 4 cents per kilowatt hour premium, Central Vermont Public Service Corp. offers its customers the option of receiving a portion of their electricity through Cow Power.

?There are things that do more and weigh more heavily on us than the bottom line and trying to do what?s right,? Williams said, ?and if it helps the community and the environment, we?re all for it.?

With the overhaul of financial regulation nearing completion, some Democrats are hoping that Congress can turn to the next big legislative challenge ? energy and climate change. There is no consensus yet what such legislation should include, but there is strong determination on the part of the White House and Democratic leaders in Congress to try to move something ? anything ? before Congress leaves town in August.

President Obama hoped to give the matter a boost this week by calling a bipartisan group of senators to the White House for a pep talk, but he canceled at the last minute to deal with a crisis in his military leadership in Afghanistan. The president is now planning to host the energy meeting on Tuesday.

On Friday, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced that nine small manufacturers in the state received $15 million in grants and $5 million in loans for a total of $20 million through the Clean Energy Advanced Manufacturing (CEAM) program.

"The nine Michigan companies that are receiving grants and loans in this new round of clean energy advanced manufacturing funding are going to help grow Michigan's new energy economy and create jobs," Granholm said in her weekly radio address. "And their innovations in the field of clean energy will further reduce our reliance on fossil fuels."