Gas prices averaging $3.15 in Rhode Island

Gasoline prices reached $3.159 a gallon in Rhode Island this week, according to the state Energy Office, and a new government forecast says they will go higher. The Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Energy Department, said Tuesday that gas prices will rise nationwide through the spring and will peak at $3.45 a gallon by Memorial Day, up 30 cents from May of last year. The agency also raised its forecast for home heating oil and said consumers are expected to pay 37.6 percent more this winter than last year. Natural-gas consumers are forecast to pay 8.7 percent more. The average cost of home heating oil in Rhode Island this week was $3.429 a gallon, according to the state Energy Office.

Officers elected at Providence Foundation

The Providence Foundation elected officers Tuesday night at its annual meeting at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, attended by Governor Carcieri, Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. Officers elected were: Robert Gilbane, president of Gilbane, chairman; Frederick Butler, a vice president at Textron, vice chairman; Arnold Chace Jr., president of Cornish Associates, secretary; and William F. Hatfield, Bank of America market president for Rhode Island, treasurer.

Corps of Engineers shutting Web page section

As the federal Minerals Management Service (MMS) proceeds with its development of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Cape Wind proposal to place wind turbines in Nantucket Sound, the Corps of Engineers plans to shut down its Web page with its own draft EIS and other materials that were developed prior to MMS taking over as lead federal agency of the environmental review. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 provided for MMS to develop a program for leasing offshore areas for renewable energy projects. The Corps will still conduct a permit review once the EIS is completed. Anyone wanting to read or download the Corps’ environmental review can do so prior to 5 p.m. Jan. 23 when the Corps will close the Web page. The link is www.nae.usace.army.mil/projects/ma/ccwf/windfarm.htm

Vermont, Fairpoint agree on Verizon deal

The State of Vermont reached a tentative settlement Tuesday on FairPoint Communications’ proposed $2.7-billion purchase of Verizon Communications’ land lines in northern New England, but it still must pass state regulators. The proposal, which must be approved by the three-member Vermont Public Service Board, essentially mirrors a stipulation already reached by Maine regulators. It calls for a $235-million reduction in the purchase price, reduced dividend payouts that would free more money for debt service and some special accommodations for Vermont. Among them are quality standards that would require the company to focus on reliability, even “in the tiniest hamlets of Vermont,” a minimum annual capital investment of about $40 million in each of the first three years and a requirement that FairPoint extend broadband service to all customers in 50 percent of its Vermont markets by 2010, under threat of “substantial financial payments” to the new Vermont Telecommunications Authority.

Digication, Davis Publications team up

Providence-based Digication Inc., a provider of e-portfolios, has partnered with Davis Publications, a provider of art education textbooks, to combine the technologies. Davis is the first textbook publisher to offer its art texts online through Digication in an integrated e-textbook format. Educators may choose a combined e-portfolio and e-textbook system to create and customize their lesson plans and course curriculum. Lesson plans can be broken out by days, weeks, content, assignments, discussions and more, all pulling from the Davis content library with standard guides. More than 1,500 schools have deployed the Digication system, including Omaha public schools in Nebraska, and Shawnee Mission school district in Kansas.

Dominion Resources eyes pipeline project

Dominion Resources Inc., which owns power plants in Providence, Somerset and Salem, Mass., and Waterford, Conn., has announced that its transmission subsidiary has received substantial interest in a proposed Dominion Hub III supply project and will move forward with obtaining binding agreements. It is the second Dominion project aimed at bringing supplies into its system from a planned interconnect with a pipeline in Clarington, Ohio. The company will be able to maximize the use of existing pipeline infrastructure to move Rockies supplies to Northeast markets with relatively minor facility additions. Dominion is one of the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy, and also owns and operates the nation’s largest underground natural gas storage system with about 960 billion cubic feet of storage capacity serving customers in 11 states.

GE motor club signs deal with Ferrari

Stamford, Conn.-based GE Money’s Partnership Marketing Group has entered into an exclusive relationship with Ferrari North America, a pioneer in automotive engineering of high-performance cars, to bring the GE Motor Club roadside assistance program to Ferrari owners. The club will provide emergency roadside assistance services to Ferrari owners throughout the United States and Canada under Ferrari North America’s warranty and service coverage. The club’s network of independent service providers will collaborate with authorized Ferrari dealers to ensure the safety and security of Ferrari drivers, by supplying such emergency roadside assistance services such as towing, winching, jump starting, tire changes, lockout service and the delivery of fuel.

Ban sought on industrial herring boats

Two Maine-based commercial fishing groups are suing the federal government in hopes of getting herring trawlers banned from certain New England fishing grounds. In their suit, the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance and the Midcoast Fishermen’s Association claim federal regulatory agencies aren’t doing enough to protect populations of cod, haddock and other groundfish from industrial herring boats. Earthjustice, a national nonprofit law firm based in California, filed the complaint on Dec. 28 in federal court in Washington, D.C. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Marine Fisheries Service and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez are named as defendants. The two fishing groups filed a petition with regulators last October asking that herring trawlers be banned from areas that are closed to boats that fish for groundfish. By allowing herring boats to continue operating on fishing grounds closed to other boats, NMFS and NOAA are allowing overfishing and failing to rebuild fish stocks, the suit claims.

Mass. Court rules against ‘McMansions’

A ruling from Massachusetts’ highest court could give communities more power to limit construction of large, expensive homes — sometimes called “McMansions.” The Supreme Judicial Court on Monday upheld a ruling by the Town of Norwell and the state Land Court that blocked a developer from tearing down a small house in a rural neighborhood and building a new home about three times the size. The Land Court said Norwell’s zoning board could reject the larger house if it did not fit in with the characteristics of the neighborhood. Town officials feared that one “McMansion” could trigger a domino effect that would push out smaller, more affordable homes. The high court agreed, saying communities could exercise their power to preserve affordable housing.