More than a month into the Iran war, Vermonters are facing the strain of ballooning fuel costs as commuters wince at high prices at the pump.  

“It’s painful to the pocketbook,” said David Armstrong, who works in the construction industry, as he filled his truck at a gas station in Burlington on Friday. 

Armstrong commutes about 40 miles a day for work, he said, and it cost him over $123 to fill his tank, even with a discount program. That’s a steep increase from the approximately $90 he says he was paying prior to the Iran war. 

Fuel costs have risen dramatically across the U.S., but in Vermont, where motorists in more rural communities must travel long distances to get to jobs or to buy essentials, prices for gas and diesel have hit especially hard. 

Average gas prices in Vermont have risen to $3.99 per gallon as of April 2, and prices in northern counties like Orleans, Essex, Franklin and Grand Isle have all eclipsed $4, according to AAA’s gas price tracker. 

Vermont is just below the national average of $4.08 per gallon, but compared to the rest of New England, only Connecticut has a higher average price. 

American households have paid $8.4 billion more for gasoline over the past month compared to prices before the start of the war on Iran, according to analysis by congressional Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee. In response to U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran, the country closed a vital naval passage between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman called the Strait of Hormuz, effectively cutting off much of the Middle East’s supply of crude oil and natural gas from the global market.

The average household in Chittenden County uses 575 gallons of gasoline annually, which, if calculated for a year, would cost around $2,300 if Friday’s gas prices went unchanged, according to data from the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission. Using the approximate cost of gas a year ago, a full year’s worth would cost $1,800, meaning that Chittenden County households would see an increase of $42 a month and around a $500 bump for the year.

Vermonters, who drive more and have fewer alternatives to driving compared to most states, are more exposed to price changes, according to Greg Rowangould, director of the Transportation Research Center and associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Vermont. 

The Transportation Research Center studied how Vermonters reacted to the last major increase in fuel prices back in 2022 at the start of the war in Ukraine. It found that people across the spectrum, from remote rural communities to Burlington, were forced to cut down on travel. Respondents said they took fewer trips, favored closer destinations and opted to chain tasks together rather than take multiple trips for essentials. 

Some drivers decided to cut back on non-essential travel, too, choosing to watch Netflix rather than going on a night out, according to Rowangould. 

“There are things that people do to try to avoid the costs,” Rowangould said. “But, of course, you can’t avoid all of it.” 

“We’re definitely driving less now,” Dennis DeSilvey said as he and his wife, Kathy, filled their hybrid car on Friday. After a career as a doctor, DeSilvey has to watch his budget much more closely since retiring. 

Meanwhile, Sarah McNamara, who works as a substitute teacher in Burlington, said she’s considering switching to commuting by bike or bus if the high prices stick around. She said her husband, who commutes to the Champlain Islands, has started talking with coworkers about carpooling to save money.

“It’s definitely going to be a new budget item, in a different category,” McNamara said of the fuel prices. 

Fuel cost increases will also hit homes using heating oil, propane and kerosene, according to Vermont Department of Public Service data. 

However, Vermont’s electric utilities mainly use long-term contracts with less exposure to sudden price spikes. New England’s electric grid largely relies on natural gas, nuclear, hydro and other renewable fuel sources, avoiding an immediate impact from global crude prices, according to Philip Picotte, a utilities economic analyst at the Vermont Department of Public Service. 

Disruptions in global supply — especially to liquified natural gas — will have some effect on New England’s electric prices in the medium-term, according to Picotte. 

Diesel fuel in Vermont has now reached $5.80 per gallon, outpacing the national average of $5.51, according to AAA, which could hit long-haul and delivery trucks especially hard. Diesel is also a main fuel source in dairy and other farming operations throughout the state. 

Fuel cost increases absorbed by local businesses would eventually be passed down to the consumer level, explained Ryan Bellavance, the president of Bellavance Trucking, which operates a fleet of nearly 100 trucks based out of Barre. Bellavance transports everything from construction materials to refrigerated food items, so increased costs could be felt across a wide range of products. 

Bellavance explained that fuel is already one of their largest expenses. With the recent price increase, it now might be their largest. Compared to the start of the year, prices have increased 31 cents per mile. Multiplied across their operation, that increase quickly becomes problematic.  

“It’s gonna be fine until the people stop buying, you know?” he said. “And then everything comes to a halt.”

Some of Vermont’s smallest haulers were parked outside the Statehouse on Friday to drum up support for a bill that is meant to make registering these so-called mini trucks easier.

“If you asked me everything I like about this truck, I would not be able to stop talking,” said Xavier Stevens of Newport, who brought his 1995 Mazda Scrum — length, just 11 feet — all the way to State Street for the gathering, branded as Mini Truck Day. “It’s the perfect vehicle.”

About a half-dozen other tiny tow-ers lined the street alongside several similarly scaled cars. One was decorated to look like a firetruck — presumably used for putting out very small fires. Under a tent nearby, supporters handed out miniature cupcakes.

While mini-truck owners use their vehicles just like any other truck, their small size and weight, coupled with limited modern safety features, means their legality on the road varies from state to state. The trucks are manufactured in Japan and later imported to the U.S. as used vehicles.

Vermont’s Department of Motor Vehicles allows people to register mini trucks here — and indeed, some at Friday’s event had Vermont license plates. But according to Sen. Becca White, D-Windsor, who’s vice chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, owners have had varying success getting their trucks registered in practice. She said it seems to depend on which DMV location they use.

Enter a portion of this year’s miscellaneous motor vehicle bill, S.326. The legislation would create a new definition of mini trucks, also known as Kei trucks, which White said she hopes will give the DMV more clarity when someone comes in seeking to register one.

The Senate approved the DMV bill last month, and it’s now being considered in the House Transportation Committee. White said she sees “all green lights” ahead for the mini-truck provision in the other chamber.

Stevens, the mini-truck owner, is among those who wasn’t able to get his vehicle registered. Instead, he registered the truck in Montana using a limited liability company he set up in that state, he said.

His truck is painted like a helmet for his favorite NFL team, the New York Giants. It’s an ironic paint job, he acknowledged, given the truck’s small size. A sticker on the back windshield warns that its 650cc engine will work its way from zero to 60 mph … eventually. 

One of the best things about Kei trucks, Stevens and others at the event said, is that they are far cheaper than the average truck sold in the U.S., but still offer a decent-sized bed and, in many cases, even have four-wheel drive. Stevens paid just $2,300 for his, including the cost of importing it from Japan.

“So many people in Vermont want a four-wheel-drive pickup truck. So, this market makes that accessible,” said Cristina Shayonye, who met her spouse when they both pulled up to an apple pie festival in Dummerston in the same model of miniature van.

These days, the couple operates a vehicle repair shop in Brattleboro that specializes in tiny vehicles. Both said that on top of the practicality, the trucks are simply a good time.

“I kind of feel like Santa Claus every time I roll up into a parking lot,” Shayonye said. “It just brightens people’s days.”

— Shaun Robinson

In the know

Friday marked the end of the first legislative week for which public access to the Statehouse was limited to a single entrance daily. A combination of Capitol Police officers and sheriff’s deputies were scanning bags and wanding down entrants daily, too. Previously, it had often been just once a week that the loading dock entrance was the only one available. 

Agatha Kessler, the sergeant-at-arms, has said it was “very likely” that officials would make the single point of entry permanent before the end of this year’s session. The decision to bolster security was made, in part, over concerns stemming from the assassination of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband last year, Kessler has said.

— Shaun Robinson

Some of Vermont’s Olympic medalists were out and about in the Statehouse on Friday, part of their celebratory homecoming after this winter’s Milan-Cortina games. 

Alpine silver medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle of Starksboro, Alpine bronze medalist Paula Moltzan of Waitsfield and two-time cross-country silver medalist Ben Ogden of Landgrove were honored in a House resolution. So were gold medalist Alpine racer Mikaela Shiffrin, who trained at Burke Mountain Academy, Stratton-trained cross-country bronze medalist Jessie Diggins, and ski big air silver medalist Mac Forehand, of Winhall.  

Current and former Olympians — both medalists and competitors — toured the Golden Dome with Rep. Jed Lipsky, I-Stowe, who commended Vermont’s winter sports excellence in a floor speech. 

— Ethan Weinstein

On the trail

Newbury resident Susan Culp is running as an independent for the Caledonia-Orange House seat, she announced this week. Culp serves as the Newbury Selectboard chair. 

That House seat is held by Newbury Rep. Joe Parsons, who is listed on the Legislature’s website as an independent and has previously run as a Republican.  

And Rep. Elizabeth Burrows, D-West Windsor, announced last month that she’s running for Senate. A vacancy in the three-seat Windsor County district opened up after Democratic Sen. Alison Clarkson said earlier this year she would not seek reelection. 

— Ethan Weinstein

The University of Vermont is asking legislators for $15 million from a statewide student financial aid fund so the school can put it toward a long-planned campus sports complex instead.

While Gov. Phil Scott supports the proposal, it has gotten a cold reception so far from lawmakers. Scott included the funding move in his state budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts in July. And he highlighted the project in his budget address to lawmakers at the start of the legislative session in January.

The House took the plan out of the version of a spending package it passed last week. The chamber’s bill, H.951, is now being considered in the Senate.

Both supporters and detractors of the plan agree it would mark a shift in the use of the state’s Higher Education Endowment Trust Fund, which helps pay for aid to students at UVM, in the Vermont State Colleges System or attending other schools in-state.

Last year, the trust fund paid for 675 scholarships averaging $1,400 each, according to data from the Vermont State Treasurer’s Office, which manages the pot of money.  About three-quarters of the beneficiaries were first-generation college students.

But for UVM, the state fund — which recently saw a large infusion of cash — is an attractive option to get construction back underway on its “multipurpose center” project, which broke ground in 2019 but has stalled since the Covid-19 pandemic. The indoor venue would be among the largest in the state, school leaders have said.

Rep. Robin Scheu, D-Middlebury, chairs the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee. She said she opposes UVM’s plan because taking money out of the trust fund would make less available for student aid. Doing that, for a building project, is a policy decision that needs more scrutiny, she said. 

“It’s completely unrelated to the uses of the fund — and that’s a huge policy shift,” she said of UVM’s project Wednesday.

One member of the appropriations panel was blunt in his criticism during a hearing on the plan earlier this year: “I don’t like this,” said Rep. Tom Stevens, D-Waterbury. The House Education Committee has also voiced its opposition to the proposal, calling it “well outside” the fund’s current purpose in a February memo. 

State lawmakers put $6 million into the fund when they set it up in 1999. It gets new money from the estate tax on high-wealth individuals’ assets when they die, as well as an annual infusion of cash from the state’s collection of unclaimed financial property. 

Every year, the state withdraws up to 5% of the fund’s assets for aid to students at UVM, Vermont State University and Community College of Vermont. Money is also sent to the Vermont Student Assistance Corp. for its financial aid programs.

The aid is drawn from the interest the fund accrues, because state law does not allow withdrawals that would reduce the amount of its principal. A smaller percentage of the fund can also be used to bolster UVM and the state colleges’ endowments — provided there are matching private donations available.

Both UVM and the governor’s office are pitching to take $15 million out of the trust fund’s principal. They argue the timing is ripe because the fund got a historic windfall of estate tax revenue last year: more than $26 million, which brought its total assets to nearly $66 million. Even after taking out $15 million for UVM’s new facility, they’ve argued, the fund would still be larger than in years past.

“I know it’s a departure from how those funds have been used for the past,” Marlene Tromp, the UVM president, told House Appropriations last month. “We believe this one-time investment is an appropriate use of those funds, because it will allow us to make such an impact on the state.”

The new facility would be able to seat 5,000 people, Wendy Koenig, UVM’s director of government relations, said at the same committee hearing. It would house the men’s and women’s basketball teams and host concerts, lectures, conferences and other events, according to previously-detailed plans. The project would also renovate existing athletic facilities on the site.

UVM has spent $75 million on the project so far and needs $100 million more to finish it, according to Tromp. The state’s infusion of cash would make some major donors who are on the fence more likely to step up, she said, as well as prevent UVM from needing to raise fees on its students to make up the funding gap.

She argued the facility would attract visitors to Burlington, boosting the local economy. It would also make UVM a more attractive campus for more students, which is a boon to the region and its future workforce. She recalled a similar facility at Boise State University, where she was the president before being hired at UVM last year.

“I used to be really proud when we hosted ‘Disney On Ice’ at my last campus, and all those kids and their families would come,” she said. “Because when you set foot on campus, it starts to change the way you think about college. It becomes your place. And we want people to feel like UVM is their place.”

Scott’s secretary of administration, Sarah Clark, reiterated the governor’s support for the project this week.

In a letter outlining areas of disagreement with the House-passed budget, she said the project would “not only be an investment in our higher education system, but in an economic development and cultural engine for Vermont.”