Vermont Electric Cooperative’s agreement to purchase half the power generated by the Sheffield wind project has not dulled its appetite for wind power from Lowell Mountain, its chief executive officer, David Hallquist, said Tuesday.
“It is important to take advantage of any generation within our territory,” Mr. Hallquist said.A key reason for that, he added, is that importing power from other New England sources involves line losses of about 10 percent of the power purchased.Based in Johnson, VEC some years ago added the northern Vermont service territory of Citizens Utilities to its own territory.
“We’re committed to the Lowell project,” Mr. Hallquist said, though he quickly added that any commitment is subject to data that has yet to be developed on the project’s cost.
Because wind power is “puffy,” Mr. Hallquist said, VEC has calculated that it is 20 percent less valuable than base load power purchased from other sources.
The implication is that, to be attractive to VEC, power generated by Kingdom Community Wind, the would-be developer of the Lowell Mountain project, would have to be offered at lower rates.
No rates have been disclosed so far in the power purchase agreement between VEC and First Wind, the Newton, Massachusetts, company that owns the Sheffield wind project.
According to a recent press release from VEC, it will buy 50 percent of the power produced by the 40 megawatt (MW) wind farm planned for Sheffield.The purchase is the subject of two contracts.
According to First Wind, one contract says VEC will buy 25 percent of energy produced by Sheffield over a ten-year period at “fixed annual prices.” The second contract is for 20 years and says that for the first ten years VEC will buy 25 percent of the power “at a price that is discounted off the spot market price.”During the next ten years, the VEC will buy 50 percent of the wind plant’s energy at the same discount.
A second Vermont utility, Burlington Electric Department, also announced this month it will purchase 40 percent of the Sheffield’s power over ten years, at fixed annual prices.
The contract signed between the two Vermont utilities and First Wind could trigger a contested hearing before the Public Service Board (PSB).
Copies of the contract have been sent to all the parties who presented testimony during an extended round of hearings that resulted in the board giving First Wind a certificate of public good in 2007 for the Sheffield project.The board’s decision was recently upheld by the state Supreme Court.
Among the conditions the board attached to the certificate of public good was that First Wind offer Vermont utilities stable price contracts or at least make good faith efforts to that end.
But in a filing last week with PSB, First Wind has requested its selling price of power be held confidential.In response, Ridge Protectors, an opponent of the project, suggested that the wind company is trying to hide the price from the public.
“That seems pretty evasive,” says the Ridge Protectors in a press released dated March 6.“The Vermont Public should be able to make informed decisions regarding their electric energy options for the future.”
The company is also asking the board to hold in confidence its definition of a minimum energy volume.
Discussing the Lowell project in an interview Tuesday, Mr. Hallquist said wind’s reliability has been correctly identified as a problem by opponents of wind power.Because wind can stop blowing, it must be backed up by a source of “spinning reserve” power, typically a gas-powered plant.
And wind is typically absent on the hottest summer days and the coldest winter days, Mr. Hallquist noted, forcing utilities to turn to spinning reserve power when it is most expensive.
Mr. Hallquist noted that money in the federal stimulus package has been allocated for energy storage systems.Batteries that could store large quantities of wind energy for later use could help overcome its puffiness, he suggested.
But in evaluating Lowell Mountain, he said, “the part of the equation we need is the cost of the project.”
In Lowell, Kingdom Community Wind’s founder, Trip Wileman, continues to sound optimistic about his project.
He has posted an extensive web site and established a drop-in information center at the home of his old friends Andy and Gert Tetreault.
Mr. Wileman said Monday that the interest VEC and Green Mountain Power have shown in the project has had a positive effect on public opinion.
Now that there is no question about where the power would be going, Mr. Wileman said, his project “is something people seem to be able to get behind.”
“We’re not going to convince everybody that what we’re doing is correct,” he added.“All we can ask for is vigorous discussion so at the end of the day people feel like they’re informed about what’s going on.”
Mr. Wileman and the utilities have already met with the Lowell Selectmen and the town’s zoning board.Meetings are planned with the selectmen of Albany, Irasburg, Craftsbury and Westfield, Mr. Hallquist said.
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