Craftsbury Writer Wins Ralph Nading Hill Writing Contest.

COLCHESTER, Vt. -- Julia Shipley of Craftsbury, Vermont, is the winner of the 2006 Ralph Nading Hill, Jr. literary prize awarded annually by Green Mountain Power (NYSE:GMP) and Vermont Life magazine.

Ms. Shipley, 34, lives and teaches in Craftsbury. She is head of the Writing Program at Sterling College in Craftsbury. Like many Vermonters, she does a little farming on the side. She keeps dairy cows herself and raises cows for families who want a cow to milk.

"In this life, I care very much about two things," she said recently, "writing and farming."

Ms. Shipley's winning essay, entitled "Coming into the Barn: Bales of Prose about a Small Dairy Farm," combines those two loves with another - it describes her relationship with a northern Vermont dairyman with whom she fell in love while working on his farm. Her essay also focuses on the immense amount of hard work it takes to milk, maintain, and care for a herd of dairy cattle.

Tom Slayton, one of the judges and editor of Vermont Life commented, "Ms. Shipley's essay was selected as the winner because of its perceptive reporting, and beautiful writing. Julia Shipley's prose manages to be both precise and lyrical - an unusual combination, but one suited precisely to her subject."

"Coming into the Barn" will be published in the fall issue of Vermont Life, which will available in bookstores and on newsstands in late-August.

Ms. Shipley grew up in Wayne, Pennsylvania and graduated from Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with a bachelor's degree in environmental education. She received a master's degree in creative writing and literature from Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont.

Ms. Shipley will receive a $1,500 prize for the essay. The literary prize is named for the late Ralph Nading Hill, Jr., a Vermont historian and writer and long-time member of Green Mountain Power's Board of Directors. Ms. Shipley will receive the award at a ceremony to be held this fall. This is the eighteenth year the literary prize has been awarded. Green Mountain Power will publish a book with all the winners after the 20th prize has been awarded.

The Ralph Nading Hill literary prize is now considered by Vermont writers to be one of the state's premier literary prizes. Entries may include essays, short stories and poetry.

The selection was made by an independent panel of judges: Tom Slayton, editor of Vermont Life; Ruth Page, author and long-time friend of Mr. Hill; Alison Freeland, a 1994 winner of the Ralph Nading Hill, Jr., award for her story, Shadbush; Brian Vachon, Vice President of Communications at National Life of Vermont and a former Vermont Life editor; and Steve Terry, retired Green Mountain Power senior executive.

The deadline for entries for this year's contest is November 15, 2006. The contest is open to all Vermont residents, including seasonal residents and college students enrolled in Vermont colleges. Entrants may be amateur or professional writers. The focus of the work must be "Vermont--Its People, the Place, Its History or Its Values." Entries must be unpublished and less than 3,000 words long. Staff of Vermont Life or Green Mountain Power and previous winners are ineligible. Send entries to the Corporate Relations Department of Green Mountain Power, 163 Acorn Lane, Colchester, VT 05446.