Oct. 27--EAST MIDDLEBURY, Vt.--Tom Halnon's dream is about as green as it gets here. He's spent seven years designing and building a home by hand, with wood cut on his own property.
Powering the home with the winds gusting over Breadloaf Mountain seemed a natural -- after all, this is the state that passed strict clean-air laws before it was hip, a place that sparks visions of environmental purity, and where out-of-staters slap "Vermont-made" on everything from soda to syrup.
But Halnon and other Green Mountain residents are learning a bitter lesson as the nation braces for a second year of high heating prices: Even in Vermont, renewable energy hasn't taken hold. Halnon is facing complaints from neighbors who don't want a 111-foot wind turbine to mar their forest view, and the state's lack of rebates and its cumbersome permitting process are huge roadblocks to his efforts.
"You have to be a zealot to do renewable power here," said Halnon, 42, who grew up one mountain over from where he's building his home. "This house is what I hold important for my family, for myself. I want it to be self-sufficient and in harmony with the land. It turns out this would be far easier for me to do in New Jersey than Vermont."
Vermont's struggles speak to at least some of the troubles the rest of New England can expect when it comes to switching to alternative forms of energy. The six states are an isolated island when it comes to fossil fuels, the only geographical region without an oil refinery and at the end of any oil and gas pipeline. And it uses tons of the black stuff -- most homes in New England were built at the height of the oil boom, and their owners have been slow to switch to more stable forms of heat, such as natural gas.
The last energy crisis was supposed to change the region's dependence on oil and its attitude toward renewable energy. But the tax breaks on alternative energy sources dried up by the mid-1980s and expensive solar panels and gritty wood stoves were abandoned as oil prices plummeted.
Attempts to capture New England's strong winds for commercial use have resulted in a huge wind farm in Searsburg, about 100 miles south of Halnon's house, but it powers only a minuscule number of homes. A western Maine wind farm was abandoned in 1995 after protests over aesthetics, and the company went bankrupt. Meanwhile, an offshore wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod remains a dream.
New England's total residential energy consumption from renewable sources, meanwhile, hovers around 4 percent, according to the US Energy Information Administration, and is about equally spread throughout the six states. The figures do not include hydroelectric power, which some consider renewable. Others argue against hydropower's green status because the rivers on which the dams are built eventually silt up and because the structures prevent fish from swimming upstream.
Unlike other states, though, Vermont has no state budget for renewable energy and it has not deregulated its electrical industry -- which has helped other states like Massachusetts set aside millions for alternative energy efforts.
"The state paralysis in energy can be summed up in one word: Hydro-Quebec," said Lewis Milford, president of Clean Energy Group, a nonprofit Vermont organization dedicated to alternative energy. "In 1990, we entered into a contract to buy power from Canada that doesn't end until 2017 and that has crowded out any other creative investment. We can't afford to use renewables because we are locked into this contract."
Of course, Vermont has lived up to its green image in at least some areas. Several state buildings and about 20 schools are heated by wood chips. Federally funded experiments are researching the value of producing electricity from manure. State officials say they should also be commended for embracing the Searsburg wind farm and a large wood-burning power plant in Burlington.
But the state has a long way to go to see masses of people using alternative forms of energy. Two years ago, Vermont passed a law that allows homeowners using renewable energy to tie into power grids and have the meter run backward.
So far, however, only 30 people have done so. There is a sales tax exemption on renewable power structures that will hook into the grid, but it is a far cry from the 50 percent rebate California offers. The numbers of solar homes in Vermont are estimated only in the hundreds in a state of 600,000 people.
"People have this view for Vermont as leading the way for environmental law -- everyone in Vermont must recycle, be vegans -- and in many ways we fulfill that image," said Andrew Perchlik, part-time renewable energy coordinator for the state and founder of Renewable Energy Vermont, an industry group. "But we still haven't pushed renewables as a state yet."
Halnon says nowhere is that more visible than at his unfinished home. He explored wind energy in 1998, after the law was passed allowing him to tie into a power grid. Told to wait because the rules were still not set, he got tired after two years and in June filed his application. After two hearings, he's still waiting.
He can't put the plumbing in until the heat is installed and he can't put heat in until he knows how the home is going to be powered. So he, his wife and their two children are living above a garage next to the house.
"I think the state should be an advocate for renewable energy, not deter people who want to do it," Halnon said. "It's frustrating to try to do something which benefits society and feel noble and to be treated by the state as if it was jeopardizing the public good."
Part of Halnon's trouble, however, is more universal: It's expensive and, to some, ugly.
A new wind turbine can retail at more than $25,000. Meanwhile, several of Halnon's neighbors are upset that the turbine "will be an eyesore near one of only two state-designated scenic roads," said attorney Gary Karnedy, who represents Watson Scott and Duncan Rollason, owners of land adjoining Halnon's. Wind has been a huge aesthetic issue throughout New England, with many feeling the steel structures mar the landscape as much as any cellular tower does.
"Vermont has a history of a working landscape. And as people look at farm silos and tractors as `isn't that quaint,' they should see wind turbines as part of that working landscape," said David Blittersdorf of NRG Systems, which builds wind-measuring devices. "We need leadership from the state to say this is important."
Blittersdorf and others, however, remain optimistic. When state solar panels were stolen from a kiosk next to the State Police barracks in Middlesex two years ago, it was considered by some a good sign.
"At least someone thought they were valuable," said Scudder Parker, director of Vermont's energy efficiency division. "You have to have a long view on this."
To see more of The Boston Globe, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.boston.com/globe
(c) 2000, The Boston Globe. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
To Frustration of Some, Vermont Slow to Embrace Renewable Energy.(Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News)Oct. 27--EAST MIDDLEBURY, Vt.--Tom Halnon's dream is about as green as it gets here. He's spent seven years designing and building a home by hand, with wood cut on his own property.
Powering the home with the winds gusting over Breadloaf Mountain seemed a natural -- after all, this is the state that passed strict clean-air laws before it was hip, a place that sparks visions of environmental purity, and where out-of-staters slap "Vermont-made" on everything from soda to syrup.
But Halnon and other Green Mountain residents are learning a bitter lesson as the nation braces for a second year of high heating prices: Even in Vermont, renewable energy hasn't taken hold. Halnon is facing complaints from neighbors who don't want a 111-foot wind turbine to mar their forest view, and the state's lack of rebates and its cumbersome permitting process are huge roadblocks to his efforts.
"You have to be a zealot to do renewable power here," said Halnon, 42, who grew up one mountain over from where he's building his home. "This house is what I hold important for my family, for myself. I want it to be self-sufficient and in harmony with the land. It turns out this would be far easier for me to do in New Jersey than Vermont."
Vermont's struggles speak to at least some of the troubles the rest of New England can expect when it comes to switching to alternative forms of energy. The six states are an isolated island when it comes to fossil fuels, the only geographical region without an oil refinery and at the end of any oil and gas pipeline. And it uses tons of the black stuff -- most homes in New England were built at the height of the oil boom, and their owners have been slow to switch to more stable forms of heat, such as natural gas.
The last energy crisis was supposed to change the region's dependence on oil and its attitude toward renewable energy. But the tax breaks on alternative energy sources dried up by the mid-1980s and expensive solar panels and gritty wood stoves were abandoned as oil prices plummeted.
Attempts to capture New England's strong winds for commercial use have resulted in a huge wind farm in Searsburg, about 100 miles south of Halnon's house, but it powers only a minuscule number of homes. A western Maine wind farm was abandoned in 1995 after protests over aesthetics, and the company went bankrupt. Meanwhile, an offshore wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod remains a dream.
New England's total residential energy consumption from renewable sources, meanwhile, hovers around 4 percent, according to the US Energy Information Administration, and is about equally spread throughout the six states. The figures do not include hydroelectric power, which some consider renewable. Others argue against hydropower's green status because the rivers on which the dams are built eventually silt up and because the structures prevent fish from swimming upstream.
Unlike other states, though, Vermont has no state budget for renewable energy and it has not deregulated its electrical industry -- which has helped other states like Massachusetts set aside millions for alternative energy efforts.
"The state paralysis in energy can be summed up in one word: Hydro-Quebec," said Lewis Milford, president of Clean Energy Group, a nonprofit Vermont organization dedicated to alternative energy. "In 1990, we entered into a contract to buy power from Canada that doesn't end until 2017 and that has crowded out any other creative investment. We can't afford to use renewables because we are locked into this contract."
Of course, Vermont has lived up to its green image in at least some areas. Several state buildings and about 20 schools are heated by wood chips. Federally funded experiments are researching the value of producing electricity from manure. State officials say they should also be commended for embracing the Searsburg wind farm and a large wood-burning power plant in Burlington.
But the state has a long way to go to see masses of people using alternative forms of energy. Two years ago, Vermont passed a law that allows homeowners using renewable energy to tie into power grids and have the meter run backward.
So far, however, only 30 people have done so. There is a sales tax exemption on renewable power structures that will hook into the grid, but it is a far cry from the 50 percent rebate California offers. The numbers of solar homes in Vermont are estimated only in the hundreds in a state of 600,000 people.
"People have this view for Vermont as leading the way for environmental law -- everyone in Vermont must recycle, be vegans -- and in many ways we fulfill that image," said Andrew Perchlik, part-time renewable energy coordinator for the state and founder of Renewable Energy Vermont, an industry group. "But we still haven't pushed renewables as a state yet."
Halnon says nowhere is that more visible than at his unfinished home. He explored wind energy in 1998, after the law was passed allowing him to tie into a power grid. Told to wait because the rules were still not set, he got tired after two years and in June filed his application. After two hearings, he's still waiting.
He can't put the plumbing in until the heat is installed and he can't put heat in until he knows how the home is going to be powered. So he, his wife and their two children are living above a garage next to the house.
"I think the state should be an advocate for renewable energy, not deter people who want to do it," Halnon said. "It's frustrating to try to do something which benefits society and feel noble and to be treated by the state as if it was jeopardizing the public good."
Part of Halnon's trouble, however, is more universal: It's expensive and, to some, ugly.
A new wind turbine can retail at more than $25,000. Meanwhile, several of Halnon's neighbors are upset that the turbine "will be an eyesore near one of only two state-designated scenic roads," said attorney Gary Karnedy, who represents Watson Scott and Duncan Rollason, owners of land adjoining Halnon's. Wind has been a huge aesthetic issue throughout New England, with many feeling the steel structures mar the landscape as much as any cellular tower does.
"Vermont has a history of a working landscape. And as people look at farm silos and tractors as `isn't that quaint,' they should see wind turbines as part of that working landscape," said David Blittersdorf of NRG Systems, which builds wind-measuring devices. "We need leadership from the state to say this is important."
Blittersdorf and others, however, remain optimistic. When state solar panels were stolen from a kiosk next to the State Police barracks in Middlesex two years ago, it was considered by some a good sign.
"At least someone thought they were valuable," said Scudder Parker, director of Vermont's energy efficiency division. "You have to have a long view on this."
To see more of The Boston Globe, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.boston.com/globe
(c) 2000, The Boston Globe. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
To Frustration of Some, Vermont Slow to Embrace Renewable Energy.(Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News)Oct. 27--EAST MIDDLEBURY, Vt.--Tom Halnon's dream is about as green as it gets here. He's spent seven years designing and building a home by hand, with wood cut on his own property.
Powering the home with the winds gusting over Breadloaf Mountain seemed a natural -- after all, this is the state that passed strict clean-air laws before it was hip, a place that sparks visions of environmental purity, and where out-of-staters slap "Vermont-made" on everything from soda to syrup.
But Halnon and other Green Mountain residents are learning a bitter lesson as the nation braces for a second year of high heating prices: Even in Vermont, renewable energy hasn't taken hold. Halnon is facing complaints from neighbors who don't want a 111-foot wind turbine to mar their forest view, and the state's lack of rebates and its cumbersome permitting process are huge roadblocks to his efforts.
"You have to be a zealot to do renewable power here," said Halnon, 42, who grew up one mountain over from where he's building his home. "This house is what I hold important for my family, for myself. I want it to be self-sufficient and in harmony with the land. It turns out this would be far easier for me to do in New Jersey than Vermont."
Vermont's struggles speak to at least some of the troubles the rest of New England can expect when it comes to switching to alternative forms of energy. The six states are an isolated island when it comes to fossil fuels, the only geographical region without an oil refinery and at the end of any oil and gas pipeline. And it uses tons of the black stuff -- most homes in New England were built at the height of the oil boom, and their owners have been slow to switch to more stable forms of heat, such as natural gas.
The last energy crisis was supposed to change the region's dependence on oil and its attitude toward renewable energy. But the tax breaks on alternative energy sources dried up by the mid-1980s and expensive solar panels and gritty wood stoves were abandoned as oil prices plummeted.
Attempts to capture New England's strong winds for commercial use have resulted in a huge wind farm in Searsburg, about 100 miles south of Halnon's house, but it powers only a minuscule number of homes. A western Maine wind farm was abandoned in 1995 after protests over aesthetics, and the company went bankrupt. Meanwhile, an offshore wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod remains a dream.
New England's total residential energy consumption from renewable sources, meanwhile, hovers around 4 percent, according to the US Energy Information Administration, and is about equally spread throughout the six states. The figures do not include hydroelectric power, which some consider renewable. Others argue against hydropower's green status because the rivers on which the dams are built eventually silt up and because the structures prevent fish from swimming upstream.
Unlike other states, though, Vermont has no state budget for renewable energy and it has not deregulated its electrical industry -- which has helped other states like Massachusetts set aside millions for alternative energy efforts.
"The state paralysis in energy can be summed up in one word: Hydro-Quebec," said Lewis Milford, president of Clean Energy Group, a nonprofit Vermont organization dedicated to alternative energy. "In 1990, we entered into a contract to buy power from Canada that doesn't end until 2017 and that has crowded out any other creative investment. We can't afford to use renewables because we are locked into this contract."
Of course, Vermont has lived up to its green image in at least some areas. Several state buildings and about 20 schools are heated by wood chips. Federally funded experiments are researching the value of producing electricity from manure. State officials say they should also be commended for embracing the Searsburg wind farm and a large wood-burning power plant in Burlington.
But the state has a long way to go to see masses of people using alternative forms of energy. Two years ago, Vermont passed a law that allows homeowners using renewable energy to tie into power grids and have the meter run backward.
So far, however, only 30 people have done so. There is a sales tax exemption on renewable power structures that will hook into the grid, but it is a far cry from the 50 percent rebate California offers. The numbers of solar homes in Vermont are estimated only in the hundreds in a state of 600,000 people.
"People have this view for Vermont as leading the way for environmental law -- everyone in Vermont must recycle, be vegans -- and in many ways we fulfill that image," said Andrew Perchlik, part-time renewable energy coordinator for the state and founder of Renewable Energy Vermont, an industry group. "But we still haven't pushed renewables as a state yet."
Halnon says nowhere is that more visible than at his unfinished home. He explored wind energy in 1998, after the law was passed allowing him to tie into a power grid. Told to wait because the rules were still not set, he got tired after two years and in June filed his application. After two hearings, he's still waiting.
He can't put the plumbing in until the heat is installed and he can't put heat in until he knows how the home is going to be powered. So he, his wife and their two children are living above a garage next to the house.
"I think the state should be an advocate for renewable energy, not deter people who want to do it," Halnon said. "It's frustrating to try to do something which benefits society and feel noble and to be treated by the state as if it was jeopardizing the public good."
Part of Halnon's trouble, however, is more universal: It's expensive and, to some, ugly.
A new wind turbine can retail at more than $25,000. Meanwhile, several of Halnon's neighbors are upset that the turbine "will be an eyesore near one of only two state-designated scenic roads," said attorney Gary Karnedy, who represents Watson Scott and Duncan Rollason, owners of land adjoining Halnon's. Wind has been a huge aesthetic issue throughout New England, with many feeling the steel structures mar the landscape as much as any cellular tower does.
"Vermont has a history of a working landscape. And as people look at farm silos and tractors as `isn't that quaint,' they should see wind turbines as part of that working landscape," said David Blittersdorf of NRG Systems, which builds wind-measuring devices. "We need leadership from the state to say this is important."
Blittersdorf and others, however, remain optimistic. When state solar panels were stolen from a kiosk next to the State Police barracks in Middlesex two years ago, it was considered by some a good sign.
"At least someone thought they were valuable," said Scudder Parker, director of Vermont's energy efficiency division. "You have to have a long view on this."
To see more of The Boston Globe, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.boston.com/globe
(c) 2000, The Boston Globe. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
To Frustration of Some, Vermont Slow to Embrace Renewable Energy.(Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News)Oct. 27--EAST MIDDLEBURY, Vt.--Tom Halnon's dream is about as green as it gets here. He's spent seven years designing and building a home by hand, with wood cut on his own property.
Powering the home with the winds gusting over Breadloaf Mountain seemed a natural -- after all, this is the state that passed strict clean-air laws before it was hip, a place that sparks visions of environmental purity, and where out-of-staters slap "Vermont-made" on everything from soda to syrup.
But Halnon and other Green Mountain residents are learning a bitter lesson as the nation braces for a second year of high heating prices: Even in Vermont, renewable energy hasn't taken hold. Halnon is facing complaints from neighbors who don't want a 111-foot wind turbine to mar their forest view, and the state's lack of rebates and its cumbersome permitting process are huge roadblocks to his efforts.
"You have to be a zealot to do renewable power here," said Halnon, 42, who grew up one mountain over from where he's building his home. "This house is what I hold important for my family, for myself. I want it to be self-sufficient and in harmony with the land. It turns out this would be far easier for me to do in New Jersey than Vermont."
Vermont's struggles speak to at least some of the troubles the rest of New England can expect when it comes to switching to alternative forms of energy. The six states are an isolated island when it comes to fossil fuels, the only geographical region without an oil refinery and at the end of any oil and gas pipeline. And it uses tons of the black stuff -- most homes in New England were built at the height of the oil boom, and their owners have been slow to switch to more stable forms of heat, such as natural gas.
The last energy crisis was supposed to change the region's dependence on oil and its attitude toward renewable energy. But the tax breaks on alternative energy sources dried up by the mid-1980s and expensive solar panels and gritty wood stoves were abandoned as oil prices plummeted.
Attempts to capture New England's strong winds for commercial use have resulted in a huge wind farm in Searsburg, about 100 miles south of Halnon's house, but it powers only a minuscule number of homes. A western Maine wind farm was abandoned in 1995 after protests over aesthetics, and the company went bankrupt. Meanwhile, an offshore wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod remains a dream.
New England's total residential energy consumption from renewable sources, meanwhile, hovers around 4 percent, according to the US Energy Information Administration, and is about equally spread throughout the six states. The figures do not include hydroelectric power, which some consider renewable. Others argue against hydropower's green status because the rivers on which the dams are built eventually silt up and because the structures prevent fish from swimming upstream.
Unlike other states, though, Vermont has no state budget for renewable energy and it has not deregulated its electrical industry -- which has helped other states like Massachusetts set aside millions for alternative energy efforts.
"The state paralysis in energy can be summed up in one word: Hydro-Quebec," said Lewis Milford, president of Clean Energy Group, a nonprofit Vermont organization dedicated to alternative energy. "In 1990, we entered into a contract to buy power from Canada that doesn't end until 2017 and that has crowded out any other creative investment. We can't afford to use renewables because we are locked into this contract."
Of course, Vermont has lived up to its green image in at least some areas. Several state buildings and about 20 schools are heated by wood chips. Federally funded experiments are researching the value of producing electricity from manure. State officials say they should also be commended for embracing the Searsburg wind farm and a large wood-burning power plant in Burlington.
But the state has a long way to go to see masses of people using alternative forms of energy. Two years ago, Vermont passed a law that allows homeowners using renewable energy to tie into power grids and have the meter run backward.
So far, however, only 30 people have done so. There is a sales tax exemption on renewable power structures that will hook into the grid, but it is a far cry from the 50 percent rebate California offers. The numbers of solar homes in Vermont are estimated only in the hundreds in a state of 600,000 people.
"People have this view for Vermont as leading the way for environmental law -- everyone in Vermont must recycle, be vegans -- and in many ways we fulfill that image," said Andrew Perchlik, part-time renewable energy coordinator for the state and founder of Renewable Energy Vermont, an industry group. "But we still haven't pushed renewables as a state yet."
Halnon says nowhere is that more visible than at his unfinished home. He explored wind energy in 1998, after the law was passed allowing him to tie into a power grid. Told to wait because the rules were still not set, he got tired after two years and in June filed his application. After two hearings, he's still waiting.
He can't put the plumbing in until the heat is installed and he can't put heat in until he knows how the home is going to be powered. So he, his wife and their two children are living above a garage next to the house.
"I think the state should be an advocate for renewable energy, not deter people who want to do it," Halnon said. "It's frustrating to try to do something which benefits society and feel noble and to be treated by the state as if it was jeopardizing the public good."
Part of Halnon's trouble, however, is more universal: It's expensive and, to some, ugly.
A new wind turbine can retail at more than $25,000. Meanwhile, several of Halnon's neighbors are upset that the turbine "will be an eyesore near one of only two state-designated scenic roads," said attorney Gary Karnedy, who represents Watson Scott and Duncan Rollason, owners of land adjoining Halnon's. Wind has been a huge aesthetic issue throughout New England, with many feeling the steel structures mar the landscape as much as any cellular tower does.
"Vermont has a history of a working landscape. And as people look at farm silos and tractors as `isn't that quaint,' they should see wind turbines as part of that working landscape," said David Blittersdorf of NRG Systems, which builds wind-measuring devices. "We need leadership from the state to say this is important."
Blittersdorf and others, however, remain optimistic. When state solar panels were stolen from a kiosk next to the State Police barracks in Middlesex two years ago, it was considered by some a good sign.
"At least someone thought they were valuable," said Scudder Parker, director of Vermont's energy efficiency division. "You have to have a long view on this."
To see more of The Boston Globe, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.boston.com/globe
(c) 2000, The Boston Globe. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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