Vermont
High gas prices hit Vermonters at the pump, store and heating bill – VTDigger
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.”
What college towns are best for comedy? Burlington, says this comic
New York comic Geoffrey Asmus talked with the Free Press after his April 30 show and before his May 1-2 performances at the Vermont Comedy Club.
If you’re thinking about planning a day trip in the state of Vermont, why not go somewhere beautiful?
Yankee Magazine picked 12 of the most beautiful places to visit in New England in 2025, and picked two Vermont locations that are more than worth a visit.
“More than anything, look through these photos and then find their equal wherever you may travel in New England: villages, cities, woods, waterways, orchards, farms,” Yankee Magazine said. “Be alert for even the smallest moments of beauty.”
Here are Yankee Magazine’s picks for best Vermont places to visit in New England.
Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, VT
If you’re looking to walk through a paradise of color and warmth, this Yankee Magazine pick might be perfect for you.
What Yankee Magazine said about Shelburne Farms: “In a region of rocky soil and notoriously changeable weather, few things say resilience like gardens whose roots go back decades. Among New England’s horticultural gems are the gardens at Shelburne Farms, sited between Lake Champlain and the property’s 19th-century mansion turned inn. Created by the former lady of the manor, Lila O. Webb, they’ve been extensively restored—much to the delight of visitors to these verdant grounds more than a century onward.”
You can visit Shelburne Farms at 1611 Harbor Rd.
Burt Henry Covered Bridge in North Bennington, VT
Do you want to take your family out to a blast from the past? Then Yankee Magazine’s other Vermont pick for a best place to visit in New England might be for you.
What Yankee Magazine said about Burt Henry Covered Bridge: “Covered bridges weren’t built to star on calendars,” writes New Hampshire author Howard Mansfield in his 2016 book, Sheds. “They weren’t built to be pretty.” Yet the same structures that once were practical solutions to 19th-century problems—including this classic Town lattice truss bridge in North Bennington—are now scenic lures for 21st-century visitors.”
You can visit the Burt Henry Covered Bridge at 475 River Rd.
Rin Velasco is a trending reporter. She can be reached at rvelasco@gannett.com.
Vermont Green FC in USL League Two final: Maximilian Kissel winner
Maximilian Kissel played hero once more to lift Vermont Green FC to the USL League Two championship on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025.
The defending USL League Two champions, Vermont Green men’s team (2-0) returns to Virtue Field for the first time in the 2026 USL season on Friday against the Albany Rush (0-2).
The Vermont Green men’s team will play in front of another sold-out crowd after captivating the entire state during last year’s playoff run.
The Green enter the home opener undefeated after earning road wins against Seacoast United and Boston Bolts. Connor Miller has been an impactful new player for the Green, recording a goal and an assist in Vermont’s 4-1 win over Boston Bolts. The Cornell midfielder is the lone player to record multiple points for Vermont through two games.
For live updates from the Vermont Green men’s team’s home opener, see below. The most recent in-game updates will be displayed at the top:
Series history between Vermont Green and Albany Rush
These clubs will be meeting for the eighth time. Vermont leads the series 7-0. The Green won the team’s only meeting in 2025, 7-0, behind former captain Zach Zengue’s hat trick.
How to watch Vermont Green’s home opener?
If fans cannot make it to Virtue Field to watch from behind the north goal, the match will be streamed here. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
Contact Judith Altneu at JAltneu@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @Judith_Altneu.
ESSEX — Vermont musician Troy Millette has postponed plenty of concerts because of illness, family obligations or bad weather.
Rain, sure. But ravens? Never, at least not until this week.
Millette’s May 30 show, which was set to open the outdoor season on The Old Stage at the Essex Experience, has been pushed back because ravens are nesting in the rafters. State and federal rules restrict what people can do to disturb the nests of birds. Instead of beginning the season at the outdoor stage, Millette will now close it Sept. 25.
“Ironically, my mother is afraid of birds,” Millette told the Burlington Free Press on May 20, the day he learned his concert would be postponed.
He said he’s not scared of birds but is wary. Especially now.
Differences between ravens and crows
Ravens have a brooding reputation, due in part to Edgar Allan Poe and his macabre “nevermore” musings.
“A hummingbird would have never canceled the show,” Millette said.
Like crows, ravens are deep black in color and caw or croak. But there are, literally, big differences.
“You probably know that ravens are larger, the size of a red-tailed hawk,” reads an Audubon magazine article. “Ravens often travel in pairs, while crows are seen in larger groups.”
Millette and his band, the Fire Below, were to perform a night of ’90s country covers. Last year, he had sprinkled a few “ironically amazing” covers of “country gold” from the likes of Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney in sets of his original music. Venue runners liked what they heard and asked for more.
Ryan Clausen, the first drummer for the Fire Below, is music and events director of the Double E venue at the Essex Experience, a restaurant, shopping and entertainment complex owned by Peter Edelmann. Clausen sent a text last week asking Millette if he was afraid of birds.
Millette didn’t think a whole lot about it, but when Clausen reported that one young raven had still not left the nest, prospects for the show grew dimmer.
Country cover songs lose out to birds
Regulations restrict what can be done to remove bird nests.
“A person shall not take or willfully destroy the nests or eggs of wild birds, other than rock pigeons, house sparrows or European starlings, except when necessary to protect buildings and the nests to be removed contain no eggs or chicks and are no longer being used by birds for feeding,” one Vermont statute reads.
Ravens in particular are shielded by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, said Joshua Morse, a spokesperson for the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department.
“Under this law, it is illegal to kill or move protected species without a permit from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service,” Morse told the Free Press by email.
Clausen noticed the nest well after last year’s summer concerts concluded at The Old Stage. “Once I saw that there were eggs in it,” he said, “there wasn’t much I could do.”
Clausen said state wildlife representatives told him the Essex Experience could either let the birds stay until they flew off — then wait a week to make sure they were gone — or pursue euthanizing the entire nest because of its impact on business.
“That made it a pretty easy call for us. We’re not going to do that,” Clausen said. “It would be so anti-everything that we stand for and what Peter stands for and Vermont stands for. If we can save the ravens, we’re going to do that.”
No one wanted to kill birds, Millette said, just so he and his band could cover “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy.”
Critters chewed through wiring
A May 21 visit to The Old Stage turned up a couple of ravens monitoring the action as well as twigs and several square feet of bird droppings atop the stage. Wires were dangling from the rafters of the barn-like structure.
“The ravens have chewed through a bunch of wiring,” Millette said. “There’s excrement everywhere.”
Ravens are territorial, he noted, so getting near the nest is risky.
He wonders if the big birds have it in for him, maybe because of his familial fear of feathered fauna.
“I feel like it’s a personal attack,” Millette said. “They wouldn’t have built a nest for a Ryan Sweezey show.”
If you go
Upcoming concerts on The Old Stage at the Essex Experience (at 7 p.m. unless noted otherwise) include:
- Friday, June 12, StevieMac: A Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks Experience. $30.
- Saturday, June 20, an evening with Quadra. $20.
- 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 1, the Lara Cwass Band. Free.
- 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 8, The Grift. Free.
- Friday, July 10, Spafford. $25.
- 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 15, the All Night Boogie Band. Free.
- Friday, July 17, the Grippo Funk Band featuring Jennifer Hartswick. $20.
- 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, Soul Porpoise featuring Dave Grippo and Geoff Kim with The Project. Free.
- Saturday, July 25, The Samples with Arty LaVigne & Friends. $25.
- 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2, Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass with Pappy Biondo of Cabinet. $35.
- Friday, Aug. 14, G. Love & Special Sauce with Dizzyisdead. $35-$135.
- Friday, Sept. 25, Troy Millette & the Fire Below play ‘90s country. $20.
- doubleevt.com
Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@burlingtonfreepress.com.
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