Photo by Kristopher Radder for the Brattleboro Reformer
GUILFORD — Vermont State officials have an energy problem. In 2011, the state developed its Comprehensive Energy Plan with the goal of obtaining 90 percent of the state’s energy needs from renewable sources by 2050. It’s a seemingly daunting task, but Guilford resident and hydroelectric pioneer Roman Nemet thinks he knows how to do it.
Nemet has long been interested in the capabilities of hydropower, not in the traditional, dam-the-Connecticut River sense, but in a smaller localized approach that would work in Vermont’s many smaller streams, brooks and rivers.
Recently, Gov. Phil Scott vetoed Act 179 — a bill that would require most utility companies, including Green Mountain Power, to reach 100 percent renewable power by 2030. Despite the veto, legislators in Montpelier have overridden the Governor’s decision, and the pressure for renewable sources has not decreased. Nemet says his hydro turbines are the answer to the state’s problem.
“Most of our electricity comes from Quebec Hydro in Canada using long haul cables,” Nemet says. “With our small micro-hydro operation, we are on course to take some of the burden off the state’s electricity purchase.”
Nemet says his hydropower works on a smaller, localized scale and does not require the damming of large water channels like the Vernon and Bellows Falls dams.