September 9, 2009 Vermont company offers incentives to go green Play video

(NECN: Anya Huneke, Waterbury, VT) - Many companies are trying to be more green these days. Some have gone as far as installing solar panels to reduce their carbon footprint. One company in Vermont is now helping its employees do the same through a new program.

Betsy Stanford\GMCR Employee "I've been in my house for 8 years... it has great southern exposure, a steep roof... but it's always been 'I don't know, I don't know, I don't know... does it work? Where do I start?'"

Betsy Stanford has been waiting for an in' to the solar world for years.

Finally- she may have found one.

Betsy: "With the financial opportunities the company is offering and that are available it might not make sense not to do it."

As an employee of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters - headquartered in Waterbury, Vermont, she has a new opportunity to pursue renewable energy. The company has signed on to a program through groSolar - another Vermont company and a major player in the solar industry, which offers incentives to employees to invest in solar power systems for their homes.

Gaelan Brown\groSolar "Green Mountain Coffee is really the first to offer this program to its employees."

The way the program works is that the employer contributes money to each system purchased by an employee. Then groSolar discounts the cost of the system by 25-cents per watt. So the idea is that combining that with state and federal incentives... solar becomes much more affordable.

Gaelan:

"Typically a system that would offset more than half the power use in a Vermont home would normally cost about $15,000. When you add up the state, federal, Green Mountain Coffee and groSolar contributions it gets it down to about $6,000."

Paul Comey\VP Envir. Affairs, GMCR: What we care about is global warming... climate change... and the need to manage our carbon footprint. And if you think about it, our employees are part of our extended family."

Paul Comey says this is one of a number of renewable energy efforts at Green Mountain Coffee. The company installed almost 600 solar panels here earlier this year.

Paul: "It's great when you can do things as a demonstration, but when you can bring it to the employee level- now you're really starting to hit the grassroots feel."

Peter Burke\GMCR Employee "I can't think of a lot of employers who would do this for their employees... it's a good feeling."

Gaelan Brown of groSolar says in fact, dozens of other employers in the northeast are considering the program. And he expects many employees will seize the opportunity once they have it--

Because with the price of solar power dropping .. And the number of solar incentives rising .. He says it may be too good to pass up.