Energy Law

The city of Montpelier hopes to heat and help power 176 buildings, including the State Capitol, with wood chips. The project has been in the works for close to 15 years, but recently got a jumpstart with $8 million in federal stimulus funds.VPR's Jane Lindholm talks with Montpelier City Manager Bill Fraser and Chris Recchia, the Executive Director of the Biomass Energy Resource Center, based in Montpelier about the specifics of the project, and whether or not the city could serve as a model for other biomass projects across the country.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, Friis Arne Petersen, was in Vermont to talk about a variety of subjects including those renewable energy projects, and Denmark's education and health care systems. VPR's Steve Zind met up with Petersen Sunday night at the Montpelier Unitarian Church, where the ambassador was set to speak later that night. He talked with him specifically about the country's renewable energy initiatives and what a state like Vermont can learn from the Danes.

China overtook the United States for the first time last year in the race to invest in wind, solar and other sources of so-called clean energy, according to a new report that raises questions of American competitiveness in a booming global market.

The Pew clean energy report is available here

The Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) this week approved the construction of three wind projects, which represent 483 megawatts (MW) of capacity. At completion, the plants would vault Ohio into the mix for leading wind states and bring Ohio closer to its RPS target of 25% renewables by 2025.

The nation's first mandatory climate regulation on the insurance industry might become voluntary. Insurance regulators plan to revisit the landmark rule this week requiring some 300 companies to disclose their efforts to prepare for climate change. One potential change to the "climate risk survey" might make the measure voluntary for insurers, according to sources.