Fossil fuel meets renewables: Vermont gas station goes solar

The Pump & Pantry looked unremarkable — a gas station, grocery and deli along the main road through the rural Vermont town of Williamstown.

But now the independent business is a meeting place of fossil fuels and renewable energy. It's a gas station that's gone solar.

Owner Sam Adams — not to be confused with the beer he sells — says he expects the $100,000 investment he's made in a 200-panel, 70-kilowatt installation will have a payback period of about six years.

After that, he expects the panels installed by the Vermont-based solar company SunCommon will bring big savings on an electric bill to run his refrigerators that's been running $3,000 to $4,000 a month.