Vermont Public Service Board Approves Sale of Burlington Telecom to Finance Settlement

The Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) unanimously approved the sale of Burlington Telecom to Blue Water Holdings and an accompanying lease of the telco back to the city of Burlington. The city government agreed in March to sell Burlington Telecom to Blue Water Holdings for $6 million to help pay for its $9 million portion of a settlement with Citibank in the bank’s lawsuit over past issues involving Burlington Telecom. Burlington will also lease back the telco for about $558,500 a year for the next five years, at which point Blue Water Holdings will be the utility’s sole owner. The PSB’s decision is “great news for the people of Burlington,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger, a Democrat, in a statement Monday.