Interview with Bill Fraser, City Manager of Montpelier, VT
Centralized biomass heating started in 2013? When is this fully going to take place?
The state has been doing centralized wood chip (biomass) heating since the early 80’s. In 2013-14 the state constructed an new modern and expanded central heat plant. The city, in 2013, installed distribution lines in the ground throughout downtown which connected to the heat plant. The full system went on line for all involved buildings on October 1, 2014, just a couple of weeks ago.
Is the process expensive? How is it being paid for?
The construction was expensive. The city portion of the project cost about $4.5 million in construction. The state heat plant cost about $20 million. Of this total (both projects) $8 million is from Federal grant funding. The rest comes from smaller grants and state and local funds. The city funds (raised through a bond and a loan) will be repaid through customer user fees. The state funds will be paid through the state budget but offset by major savings in heating costs from the new more efficient plant.
What are you thoughts about the project and how it will effect Montpelier?
It will help stabilize long term heating costs for public buildings (city hall, police station, fire station, library, Union elementary school, court house and the post office) and private buildings. It reduces air pollution by removing 20 individual chimneys and consolidating them into one central smoke stack with new state of the art scrubbing technology. And it increases the use of renewable energy sources in Montpelier.
Do you think overall it will be effective?
Yes, wood prices have historically risen much lower than oil prices over comparable time periods. It can be reasonably projected that, over the long haul, this will save customers money and will not have the volatility in pricing that exists with oil. It has been very successful for the state since the ‘80’s.
Were there other options besides this that may have been a better choice? If so what were they and why did they not get chosen?
This option was particularly attractive due the presence of the state complex, their positive experience with this heating model and the availability of a central heat plant in downtown. Without that, we might have considered more choices. However – the key choice is whether a new heating source (solar, natural gas, etc.) becomes economically and environmentally preferable to wood. In that case, the state plant can be converted to that new source without having to make any conversions to individual buildings that are connected to the system.
