MIDDLEBURY – Beau Ties Ltd. of Vermont, which has been dressing men for success since 1993, is now wearing its support for farmers and the environment on its sleeve.

The Middlebury company, which sells thousands of bow ties to aficionados around the world, has signed up its
manufacturing plant for 25 percent CVPS Cow Power™.

“We’ve always manufactured our products right here in Middlebury, and we try to rely on local providers for goods and services whenever possible,” Beau Ties cofounder Bill Kenerson said. “Vermont means so much to my family and the company. We see our support for CVPS Cow Power™ as a way to support a state, and a way of life, that we love, while protecting the environment and improving the outlook for some of our farmers.”

Beau Ties Ltd. of Vermont consumed nearly 60,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity last year. CVPS Cow Power™
provides a quarter of the company’s load, which is expected to have an environmental impact equivalent to removing 40 metric tons of CO2 from the air annually. That’s equivalent to 93 barrels of oil not burned or 1,000 tree seedlings growing for 10 years.

“We have created a successful business built in part on the Vermont name, so it makes sense to help preserve
Vermont’s farm culture and working landscape,” Kenerson said.

CVPS Cow Power™ is the nation’s only manure-based renewable energy program linking consumers and farmers.
CVPS customers can choose to receive all, half or a quarter of their electrical energy through Cow Power, and pay a premium of 4 cents per kilowatt hour, which goes to participating farm-producers, to purchase renewable energy credits when enough farm energy isn’t available, or to the CVPS Renewable Development Fund. The fund provides grants to farm owners to develop on-farm generation. Farm-producers are also paid 95 percent of the market price for the energy sold to CVPS.

The program was designed to help farmers improve manure management while providing new financial
opportunities to Vermont dairy producers. Manure and other farm waste are held in a sealed concrete tank at the same temperature as a cow’s stomach, 101 degrees. Bacteria digest the volatile components, creating methane and killing pathogens and weed seeds. The methane, which is roughly 20 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere, fuels an engine/generator.

Blue Spruce Farm in Bridport was the first CVPS Cow Power™ producer, starting in January 2005. Four other farms in are in the process of developing generators and are expected online late this year or early in 2007. The four farms, which received grants totaling more than $660,000 from the CVPS Renewable Development Fund to help get them started, include:

- Green Mountain Dairy Farm in Sheldon, owned by Brian and Bill Rowell, with 1,250 cows expected to produce 1.7 million kilowatt-hours per year;

- Montagne Farms in St. Albans, two farms owned by Dave Montagne, with 1,200 cows expected to produce 1.7 million kilowatt-hours of energy per year;

- Newmont Farms LLC in Fairlee, owned by Walter and Margaret Gladstone, with 1,020 cows expected to produce 1.4 million kilowatt-hours per year;

- and Deer Flats Farm in West Pawlet, owned by Dick and Rich Hulett, who plan to use surplus crops and 210 cows to produce 3.6 million kilowatt-hours per year.

“Customers like Beau Ties Ltd. of Vermont make Cow Power more than just a good idea,” Young said. “Thanks to them and customers like them, CVPS Cow Power™ is quickly becoming an economic engine for farms while
improving the environment and expanding our renewable energy supply.”

Contact: Steve Costello (802) 747-5427 For Immediate Release: June 15, 2006