Acorn Energy Co-op third community solar project in Bristol moving

By JOHN FLOWERS

MIDDLEBURY — Devotees

of the Appalachian Gap

Distillery like the taste and

quality of the company’s gins

and whiskeys.

Now customers — at least

those with an

environmental

ethos — have an

additional reason to

imbibe.

The Middlebury

company is on the

cusp of making

its operations

“climate neutral,”

a coveted NetZero

certication for

consumer brands.

App Gap took

a sizable step

toward that goal

last week with the

announcement it

would offset half its natural gas

use with renewable natural gas,

through Vermont Gas Systems.

Renewable natural gas, or

RNG, is a moniker for the

gaseous fuel gathered from

the rotting remains of organic

matter

The Goodrich Farm in

Salisbury — endowed with a

massive biodigester that will

convert manure and food scraps

into methane — will likely be a

major source of the distillery’s

RNG, App Gap announced.

App Gap is

positioned to be

the rst distillery

in the country

to be certied

climate-neutral,

according to

company co-

founder Lars

Hubbard.

“I have this

belief that we

should leave as

small a footprint

as we can,” he

said. “That’s

the way I live

my life and the

way I’ve taught my children

to live their lives. We’re all

environmentalists. I try to do

everything I possibly can to

minimize our footprint.”

Vermont Gas Systems began

offering RNG in 2019. Since

then, business and residential

customers have collectively

displaced more than 70,000

Mcf (thousand cubic feet) of

traditional natural gas each year,

according to VGS.

But RNG is only one of the

steps App Gap has taken to

reduce its carbon footprint.

The company also has a super-

insulated 11,500-square-foot

building that is powered entirely

through solar energy. App Gap

sends all its waste grains and

liquid residue from alcohol

making to the Purpose Energy

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ADDISON COUNTY INDEPENDENT

C Section

THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021

Local distillery strives to go climate-neutral

Acorn Energy Co-op third community

solar project in Bristol moving forward

New awnings rm

is a family affair

Northlands Job Corps

Center gives virtual tours

VERGENNES — Northlands

Job Corps Center is a fully funded

residential career technical

trade center based in Vergennes

serving young adults ages 16-

24. Students who have not yet

completed high school can earn

a GED or high school diploma.

Although Northlands does offer

non-residential opportunities

to students residing within

25 miles of the center, most

students choose to be residential

and live on Macdonough Drive

campus. Both of these options

allow students to be part of the

Northlands community, foster

friendships and benet from the

supports of Job Corps.

All students’ Job Corps

journeys are unique, as they come

from a variety of geographic

locations, cultures, linguistic

and academic backgrounds. For

students, a very important goal

of going to Job Corps is to get

a job upon completion of their

program.

Job Corps, a national

program sponsored by the

U.S. Department of Labor, has

as its mission to educate and

train highly motivated young

people for successful careers

in the nation’s fastest-growing

industries.

Northlands is the only Job

Corps Center in Vermont. Some

say it is an untapped resource for

Vermonters. Job Corps is a free

program, and benets include

housing, meals, basic living

allowance, driver’s education

leading to a driver’s license,

basic medical and dental care,

and recreational activities.

Additional student benets

include community college

partnerships, military enrollment,

apprenticeship programs and job

placement services.

The trades for which training is

offered at Northlands Job Corps

Center are: Welding, Advanced

Welding, Building Construction

Technology, Culinary Arts,

Carpentry, Automotive

Technology, Certied Medical

Assistant, Urban Forestry, and

Ofce Administration. If there is

a trade that is not offered there

students have the opportunity

to attend another center in New

England/ Boston Region.

At capacity, Northlands can

welcome up to 220 students. On

the Northlands campus there is

no shortage of leisure activities

for students to participate

in. In non-COVID-19 times

these includes video game

tournaments, crafting, athletics,

movies, off-site trips and more.

These allow students to balance

their academics and trade with

APPALACHIAN GAP DISTILLERY co-founder Lars Hubbard stands in front of solar panels his company erected in front of its Middlebury

facility in order to move toward being carbon neutral. The company also is moving toward using “renewable natural gas” — also known

as methane produced from rotting manure and other organic matter.

Independent photo/Steve James

(See Distillery, Page 2C)

“We’re not

(pursuing

climate-neutral

status) to

make noise;

we’re doing it

because it’s

the right thing

to do.”

— App Gap

Distillery co-founder

Lars Hubbard

“If we are successful, we will have local

investment, ownership, and management of

a solar array developed in cooperation with

the host community, and we will have made

the most of a brownfields redevelopment

opportunity as well. There are multiple

winners all around.”

— Energy Co-op President Benjamin Marks

By ANDY KIRKALDY

ADDISON — When Middlebury

native Rene Paquette, a four-

decade veteran of the residential

and commercial awning business,

describes his new full-service

awning company as a family

business, he’s not kidding.

Paquette’s Integrity Awnings,

which ofcially came into existence

on Feb. 1, is based at Paquette’s

Addison home.

His wife, Selena, is the business

and ofce manager, and their ve

children — two of whom worked

with Paquette during his 39-year

career with Otter Creek Awnings —

are all on board the new venture.

Son Adam Paquette brings 15

years of residential and commercial

installation experience learned at

Otter Creek, and daughter Heather

Paquette Lavalla is on board after

ve years of ofce management and

logistics experience, also with Otter

Creek.

Hannah Paquette, another

daughter, oversees social media

marketing and works as a

receptionist, daughter Hayley

Ceresoli is a sales representative, and

son Aaron Paquette is an installation

specialist.

Rene Paquette, 62, responded to

the question that he said everyone

asks him: What’s it like working

with his family?

First, he joked that his wife’s title

as ofce manager is just symbolic.

“Even though we said ofce

manager, she’s actually referee,”

Paquette said.

Seriously, he said it helps that

Adam and Heather already have

successfully worked for him for a

combined 20 years; that all seem to

have inherited a strong work ethic

from Rene’s father, Addison County

Fair and Field Days founder Lucien

Paquette; and that the family is

already tight-knit.

“It’s really challenging for some

people. For us, it’s not. It’s like

natural,” Paquette said. “We have

a unique relationship, business vs.

home life. I am also very lucky that

I am one of those fathers where the

kids, all ve of them, show up on the

weekends because they want to.”

CAREER IN AWNINGS

Paquette signed on with Otter

Creek Awnings and company

founder Max Eaton after graduating

in 1981 from Hannaford Career

Center. More recently, Eaton has

written an endorsement for an

Integrity Awnings press release.

Over the years, Paquette said, “I

did everything for the company.”

He rst started “assembling parts

and pieces” of retractable awnings.

He also welded and stitched fulltime

before serving as a production

manager, vice president of sales, and

vice president of operations before

becoming vice president of the

company.

In that role, Paquette said,

he “basically oversaw all the

operations,” including vehicles,

operations personnel, installation

scheduling, purchasing, and “on top

of that I sold a pretty good number

of awnings.”

“I knew the company from soup

to nuts. And if you were to ask

anybody locally who owned Otter

Creek, they thought I owned it,” he

said.

Paquette lasted through three

ownerships, and one company

split. He went with the division

that retained the Otter Creek name,

which moved into a Williston

showroom about two decades ago.

ALL FIVE OF Rene Paquette’s children — and wife Selena Paquette

— are playing roles in his new company, Integrity Awnings. Pictured

are, from left, Hayley Ceresoli, Hannah Paquette, Heather Lavalla,

Adam Paquette and Aaron Paquette.

Photo courtesy of Rene Paquette

(See Family affair, Page 3C)

(See Acorn, Page 3C) (See Northlands, Page 2C)

BRISTOL — Fundraising

for a local community-owned

solar project in Bristol under

development by the Acorn

Renewable Energy Co-op of

Middlebury is moving forward.

The proposed project, Acorn

Energy Solar 3, now known as

Bristol Community Solar (BCS),

will be a 500 kW solar array on the

capped former municipal landll

located at 80 Pine St. in Bristol.

This past Friday, March 19,

Acorn Energy Co-op received nal

approval of its documentation for

the public offering of shares in the

project by the Vermont Department

of Financial Regulation (DFR).

This review and approval by the

DFR gives Acorn Energy the green

light to begin marketing the Bristol

project to Vermont residents with

an electric meter in the Green

Mountain Power (GMP) service

territory. These off-taker/investors

will receive the project’s net-

metered credits on their GMP bills,

and ultimately take ownership of

the project.

“If we are successful, we will

have local investment, ownership,

and management of a solar array

developed in cooperation with the

host community, and we will have

made the most of a brownelds

redevelopment opportunity as

well. There are multiple winners

all around,” said Energy Co-op

President Benjamin Marks. “We

hope that the installed price per watt

of the array will also be attractive

for prospective participants.”

Initially, participation in BCS

will be open to Bristol residents,

businesses and organizations,

members of the Interfaith Climate

Action Network (ICAN), as well

as Vermont Interfaith Power

and Light (VTIPL), and Acorn

Energy Co-op members. This

local investment model was

facilitated by 2014 changes to

the Vermont Small Business

Offering Exemption (now

generally referred to as Vermont

Equity Crowdfunding), which

is viewed as one of the nation’s

most progressive local investing

regulations.

Acorn Energy Co-op, and Aegis

Renewable Energy of Waitseld

(Acorn Energy’s contractor),

have developed the plan for the

approximately $1.8 million Bristol

project. The Bristol Community

Solar design calls for 1,840 solar

panels, 405 watts DC each, which

will cover a little over three

acres of undulating terrain on the

12-acre capped Bristol landll

site. The panels will be a new bi-

facial model, which also generate

electricity from light reected off

the ground — a useful feature

during Vermont’s snowy winters.

At 500 kilowatts AC, BCS will

be considerably larger than the

Energy Co-op’s two previous 150

kW AC projects in Middlebury

and Shoreham.

The Bristol landll is ideal for

solar development since it has

good solar exposure from the

south and cannot be seen from

public streets and neighborhood

homes, Acorn says. In addition,

this type of “browneld” site

receives favorable treatment from

Vermont’s energy permitting and

approval agencies. Acorn Energy

Co-op applied for a Certicate of

Public Good for the project from

the Public Utility Commission on

Dec. 23, 2020.

The Co-op’s investment model

calls for two initial categories of

investors in Bristol Community

Solar: a single Series A Member,

and multiple Series B Members.

The Co-operative Insurance

Companies of Middlebury will be

the Series A investor. The Series

A investor will provide around a

third of the capital to construct the

project and in return will receive

federal investment tax credits for

their project participation, rather

than any electricity bill credits.

The company’s participation helps

to keep the costs down for the

Series B investors.

Addison Independent, Thursday, March 25, 2021 — PAGE 3C

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