Blair Hamilton (1949–2011)

Known to most in the industry as the co-founder (with his wife, Beth Sachs) of Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC) and Efficiency Vermont, Blair Hamilton will be remembered professionally for his dedication to affordable energy efficiency—and personally for so much more. At 61 years of age, Hamilton passed away on April 8 after a long battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

“The idea of starting a company in 1986 that would focus on lowering the economic and environmental costs of energy was pretty monumental to consider, when the fact was there just wasn’t a whole lot of people who wanted to pay for that, or see that happen at the time,” said Scott Johnstone, executive director of VEIC, regarding Hamilton’s ambitious goals to start VEIC 25 years ago (see "Sweet Success in Vermont").

And in the past 25 years, Hamilton did a whole lot more, including seeing to the installation of at least 30-million efficient light bulbs, according to his Burlington Free Press obituary.

“Blair was a visionary, a friend, a genius, and a mentor to all of us,” Johnstone said. “He left an indelible mark on the world, and he’ll be greatly missed.”

Home Energy expresses its condolences to the Hamilton family and friends. Read more about Blair’s life and work with Efficiency Vermont here.