Progress Partners LLC principal Frank Cantatore, left, and Beaver Wood LLC partner William Bousquet spoke during a Feb. 19 biomass forum held at Pownal's American Legion hall. Progress Partners is the entity that owns the Green Mountain Energy Park, where Beaver Wood plans to site a biomass/wood pellet production facility.
POWNAL – The owners of the Southern Vermont Energy Park say local opposition to a proposed biomass power generation facility may leave them no choice but to seek tax relief from the town of Pownal.
Frank Cantatore, a principal of Progress Partners LLC, which owns the 144-acre park on Route 7, made the announcement during a Feb. 18 informational meeting held at the American Legion Post 90.
Cantatore said the firm is prepared to ask town officials to lower its $23,110 annual property tax obligation (the Park is valued at $1.5 million). He made the comment during a meeting on Saturday that focused on Beaver Wood LLC’s hotly contested plan to build a 29.5 megawatt biomass power facility and an accompanying wood pellet production mill at the park.
While the development of a solar installation by EOS Ventures of Hancock, Mass., is on track, it is not yet in place and the site is not generating a profit yet, Cantatore said. The controversy about the biomass facility and ongoing property vandalism at the site have been costly, he said. Previous efforts to site commercial enterprises at the park have failed and since Progress Partners has been unable to utilize the park for its zoned purpose, they are likely entitled to tax relief, he said. Public access to the park is likely to end as well, he said.
“We are at a crossroads,” Cantatore said. “It has taken us three years to get something of substance here [at the energy park]. We need to see residential support for our endeavors. We have welcomed the youth leagues, we allowed the fireworks. Now we have to decrease expenses and that means pulling the electric plug and seeking relief from [property] taxes. We would rather not be in this position.”
The park’s property taxes are currently paid in full and the partners owe no delinquent property taxes, said Pownal Select Board Chairman Nelson Brownell and town Treasurer Ellen Strohmeier.
William Bousquet, a part owner of Beaver Wood, said his company remains committed project construction and believes fully in its ability to provide affordable energy to the power grid, quality wood pellets to wholesalers and good jobs for local people. But the group also senses a political shift about renewable energy sources since Beaver Wood began developing their plan about two years ago, he said. Cantatore noted that creating an energy park seemed a very good idea when the partners were charting the property’s future and added that Progress Partners believed they’d be able to develop a one-of-a-kind site when both EOS and Beaver Wood wanted to be park tenants.
“This would be the first campus that I’m aware of that would host two excellent renewable energy projects,” Cantatore said. “We have a chance to create something special there.”
But proposal opponents have organized a united front and remain firm in their arguments that the biomass project would release harmful particulates into the air, disturb the quality of the nearby Hoosic River, cause traffic problems and lower property values. There is a strong contention among opponents that biomass facilities are health hazards. The Massachusetts-based Williams College is among the groups that have hired lawyers to represent them during state Public Service Board hearings. The college as well as the Town of Williamstown, Mass. and other entities have been granted intervenor status by the PSB.
If 90 percent of the people don’t want this, they are not going to let you on their land to get the wood.”
~ Roger Contois
PSB hearings are currently focused on whether the agency may issue a Certificate of Public Good for the entire project under state Act 248 provisions or if the wood pellet portion is required to undergo an Act 250 permit process, which is involves local permitting boards.
Coupling biomass power generation with pellet production was thought to be business savvy and energy sound, said Bousquet during the meeting.
“We knew that a standalone biomass plant would not be the most favorable so we started to figure out what works best with biomass and pellets work great with it,” Bousquet said.
Coupling wood pellet production with biomass means that excess heat generated by biomass incineration will be harnessed and used to dry wood pellets. That in turn increases the facility’s efficiency from 20 to 25 percent to as much as 40 to 45 percent, Biomass Resource Center Program Director Adam Sherman said in a previous interview about Beaver Wood.
During the meeting, Bousquet noted that several months ago, Beaver Wood secured what he termed “letters of intent” from six state-based entities including Central Vermont Public Service, the Washington Electric Co-op, and other agencies. The non-binding letters state that the groups would be willing to purchase power from the biomass facility, Bousquet and Beaver Wood partner Ted Verrill said during follow-up interviews. Both declined to identify all six entities and did not provide copies of any letters. The state’s Sustainably Priced Energy Development Program [SPEED] also expressed interest in the proposal, both said.
CVPS spokesman Steve Costello said that he believes the firm may have signed a “letter of interest” with Beaver Wood.
All of the alleged entities now seem to be waiting for the state legislature to “force” power purchases from renewable sources, Bousquet and Verrill said. Vermont is the only New England state that does not require energy retailers, such as CVPS or Green Mountain Power, to have a renewable power portfolio, said Verrill. The final wording of House Bill 56, now in legislative hands, is likely to impact the future of renewable energy sources in the state, they said. The bill is supposed to “enact various statutes and session laws relating to energy and the use of renewable energy generation to meet Vermont’s needs and support its economy,” according to the bill’s text.
The Pownal Energy Park is the site of an EOS Ventures solar energy project and the site of a proposed Beaver Wood LLC 29.5 megawatt biomass generation site and an accompanying wood pellet production facility.
Buying renewable energy increases power costs, and Verrill and Bousquet said they believe utilities want the legislature to order such purchases as a way to avoid consumer backlash.
“[Utilities], like everyone else, don’t want to anger the ratepayer by adding renewables to their portfolio,” Verrill said. “They are looking for cover from the legislature.”
Brownell said that Beaver Wood was among a group who were “actively pursued” by state officials as viable energy providers.
“They won’t say this but I will, these [renewable energy entities] were actively recruited, including the biomass group,” Brownell said. “The state was pursuing all the renewables, solar, wind, trees, and then what happened was this active stand against biomass. Their [biomass opponents] PR was better. And they [biomass opponents] do not like looking at sources such as solar and wind as intermittent sources, which means they will cost more because it will cost more to develop it and make it better.”
“Intermittent” renewable energy sources rely on factors such as weather to make them functional, “base-load” power sources such as biomass are a constant source of energy.
Speaking during a phone interview, Beaver Wood Managing Director Thomas Emero agreed that state entities including the SPEED group, declared strong interest initially in the biomass proposal.
“I don’t think we were misled, I don’t think that’s accurate, but I think some utilities got cold feet,” he said.
Verrill said that earlier in the project development process, the “political vibe was welcoming.” While biomass is the hot topic of the moment, Verrill recalled heated community debates about wind towers, hydro-electric proposals and more recently, growing grumblings about the hazards of solar power.
“There ain’t no free lunch,” he said. “Everything has a consequence.”
About 40 people attended the Saturday gathering organized by town businessmen John Armstrong and his sons Howard and John. The Armstrong family operates the Pownal View Barn and the Hillside House, two decades-old town-based businesses. Most guests said that they were invited to attend.
Bousquet reiterated that the Beaver Wood facilities would generate about 1,000 construction jobs overall during an expected 12- to 24-month building phase. Construction costs are estimated at about $250 million. At any given time, the construction phase would likely have about 350 workers associated with various trades onsite, he said. When the facilities open, they will provide a total of about 50 full-time jobs with benefits. Restaurants, convenience stores, and other small businesses would likely see revenue increases during the construction phase and after, according to Bousquet.
He stressed that the company would hire from a local applicant pool and emphasized a rigorous training that is provided by the firm’s development partner, Bechtel Development Co. Inc. He repeatedly said that Vermont has some of the toughest environmental standards and regulations in the country and that Beaver Wood would have to comply with each and every standard. Cantatore reiterated that Beaver Wood, by state law and by lease, is prohibited from burning anything other than “clean wood” at the site, meaning no construction debris or other refuse is permitted for incineration. Bousquet said the company has no desire to burn construction debris.
Brownell said people should have more faith in Vermont’s ability to devise and enforce strict environmental legislation.
“Vermont does an excellent job of protecting its environment and I think we need a little more faith in our state,” he said. “The other thing people lose sight of is that forestry is a form of agriculture. They grow trees and they make product. Biomass fits with that.”
Pownal resident and local logger Roger Contois questioned Bousquet about the availability of wood.
“If 90 percent of the people don’t want this, they are not going to let you on their land to get the wood,” Contois said.
Bousquet pointed out that the available wood supply is within a 50-mile radius, extending beyond Pownal. And Select Board Chairman Brownell said that many people are struggling to pay their property taxes and may reconsider selling wood to Beaver Wood.
Beaver Wood plans to build a similar facility in Fair Haven. Unlike the Pownal plan, the Fair Haven proposal has not generated a local outcry.
The post Pownal energy park owners may seek tax relief if biomass plant is dropped appeared first on VTDigger.