Biomass Incinerator Costs Escalate Forcing Gainesville to Re-Finance Ballooning Debt
Although It has been widely repeated that the GRU-GREC incinerator will burn woody biomass as an exclusive fuel source the contract is clear that GREC is fully prepared to burn municipal waste if woody biomass is not available – or if the cost of making a profit for banks and investors is too high.
Specifications for the aftermath of burning municipal waste appears on page 6-24 of the site certification application – 6.0 "Effects of Plant Operation.” Source
"Bottom ash consisting of noncombustible materials (i.e., rocks, glass, sand, metal) from the BFB combustor will be collected in ash containers. When these containers are filled, they will be transported and emptied at an offsite, properly permitted landfill. Fly ash will be collected from the boiler backpass ash hoppers and the fabric filter hoppers and transported pneumatically to the fly ash storage silo. The fly ash will be conditioned by adding water to control dust when the silo is unloaded into truck trailers with covers. Alternatively, the fly ash may be loaded dry into sealed trucks using an enclosed process. The conditioned fly ash will then be hauled offsite for use as agricultural or silvacultural soil supplement, to the extent possible, with the remainder disposed at an offsite, properly permitted landfill."
The opportunity to defray operating costs by selling the fly-ash as "agricultural or silvicultural soil supplement" was lost when the design of the incinerator was changed by the manufacturer (Metso) to require injection of the toxic sorbent "Trona". As a result, GRU ratepayers will be charged for the lost opportunity of selling fly-ash as a soil supplement.
Resources: Trona: Tech data sheet Trona: MSDS Data Fly-ash behavior in combustion
More importantly, GRU ratepayers will now be obligated to pay for increased landfill disposal fees for the mountains of contaminated fly-ash that need to be hauled away.
As the pressure increases to turn a profit for American Renewables and groups of banks and investors, GREC could legally choose to revert to burning solid municipal waste. An opportunity to incinerate automobile, aviation and truck tires for profit could be implementd to off-set costs for generating expensive biomass power that has no market. Burning tires and garbage could gain substantial favor by bean counters looking to assure investor profit at lowest political impact to GRU customers.
Debunking the Myth of a Unanimous City Commission in Favor of the Biomass Plant:
Former commissioner, Ed Braddy's April 8, 2010 letter to Public Service Commission raises questions as to the City Commission's support of the GRU-GREC contract.
On March 15, 2010, then Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan misrepresented the facts to the PSC when she responded a query:
"Do you believe that local electoral control provides adequate protection for your citizens and electric customers?"
Mayor Hanrahan responded:
So far, eleven Commissioners have voted unanimously in support of GREC over the years, including myself and sitting Commissioners Craig Lowe, Jack Donovan, Thomas Hawkins, Lauren Poe, Jeanna Mastrodicasa, and Sherwin Henry, and previous Commissioners Rick Bryant, Ed Braddy, Warren Nielsen, and Chuck Chestnut."
Braddy's April 8, 2010 response to the PSC addressing Hanrahan's error clearly stated he would never have voted for the Biomass plant if he had known the truth that no additional generation would be needed until 2023, a full decade later than the 2013 that was falsely asserted by the City and GRU. Source
"…the analysis by PSC staff has indicated that new electrical generation is not needed by 2013 and that no additional capacity is needed until a full decade later – 2023. This is a very important change in the substance of the information, and I can say with absolute certainty that – with this new assessment – I would not have been in support of GREC. Although I cannot speak for the other commissioners, I suspect I would not be alone in this determination."
Escalating strain on the City to finance the GRU-GREC deal became evident at the March 15 Commission meeting when GRU's chief financial officer made a presentation that promised to provide, "near-term debt relief as we deal with an expected rise in fuel costs." The plan to issue municipal bonds amounts to re-financing current debt over a longer period of time with lower initial rates that eventually balloon to higher than anticipated rates from 2021 through 2040.
Mayor Crag Lowe who is increasingly criticized for his breach of trust in hiring his campaign manager as his personal aide, provided anemic damage control by denying the City is trying to "scramble" because of the GREC contract.
In a previous meeting, the City Manager and a majority on the commission revealed unbelievable fiscal ignorance when they sat mute as General manager, Bob Hunzinger suggested that GRU was considering ways to mitigate the Biomass rate hike impacts by effectively reducing the City's operating budget through a reduction in the annual General Fund Transfer. Like zombies incapable of their oversight responsibilities, the commission continued to stare off into space as Hunzinger followed with another suggestion that GRU could reduce the solar FIT program. To date, neither City manager, Russ Blackburn, Mayor Lowe or any commissioner has put Hunzinger on the carpet about his outrageous idea of threatening jobs and City programs by eliminating substantial dollars from the City's operating budget. This is yet another example that GRU holds fiscal tyranny over the City and that the commission is comfortable in their position as subservient to GRU's fiscal whims.
Burdensome Biomass Debt is a Lost Opportunity for 21st Century Distributed Power Technologies.
The fiscal impact of a burdensome 30 year PPA contract places huge restrictions on the City's current and future opportunities to deploy advanced energy technologies. For example, distributed energies of Solar and Fuel cells already provide far more efficiency than a GRU-GREC biomass incinerator and provide far more sustainable operating costs since neither solar or fuel cells require potable ground water and off-site hauling of toxic waste.
As Energy competitors next door and around the country position for 21st Century distributed enegy solutions Gainesville will be stuck with a 30 year balloon mortgage on a smoke-stack technology that will always be more expensive than almost any other generation available.
Gainesville Sun reporter, Chris Curry provided comprehensive coverage of the March 15 commission meeting. Source
