Randolph Seeks $18 Million for Wood-Heat District

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The Herald of Randolph, July 16, 2009
By M.D. Drysdale

With the recommendation of the Randolph Energy Committee and the formal approval of the selectboard, the town of Randolph made application Tuesday for $18 million in federal stimulus funds.

If approved by the U.S. Department of Energy, the grant would pay for 50% of the expense of creating a wood heating district in Randolph village that backers say would make the town a showcase for energy independence. It would, they say, free businesses, industries and residences from the likelihood of much higher oil prices.

As a result, Randolph could become a magnet for businesses seeking energy stability, and millions of dollars could be kept in town instead of being shipped to oil suppliers abroad.

The grant application was written by the Randolph Area Community Development Corp. (RACDC) and relies heavily on a $50,000 study completed by the Biomass Energy Resource Center in Montpelier. That study, completed early this summer, concluded that a village heating district, powered by a wood heating plant, could pump hot water to a total of 433 existing properties, 71 of them commercial or industrial.

After factoring in the cost of building the heating plant and the much larger cost of piping hot water to all the properties, the heating district would be feasible even at current oil prices, the study said. If oil prices rise to $3 a gallon or more, the savings would be many millions of dollars, according to BERC.

Receiving a grant that would pay for half of the cost of the project would make the savings much greater.

The complete proposal included in the application to the Department of Energy would include the wood heating district, as well as the auxiliary production of electricity as part of the process. There would be an option, as well, for a pellet mill at the site of the boiler. The mill would use some of the plant’s heat for drying and would provide a cash flow that would help pay for the construction.

RUHS Already Saves
Appearing before the selectboard July 1, BERC representatives Adam Sherman and Chris Recchia stressed that the proposed heating district wouldn’t be much of a technical innovation—except in its size.

The identical technology is already in place at Randolph Union High School and 40 other schools in the state, they pointed out. RUHS alone saved $140,000 in fuel costs this heating season by using wood, they said.

Sherman noted that the utility would be “not unlike a municipal water system” and pointed out that several colleges have large systems serving several buildings.

Although heating an entire village with a biomass system would be new in the United States, it is being used very successfully in almost 500 villages in some of the smaller European countries, BERC representatives said.

The BERC study also found that there is so much wood growing in the forests within 30 miles of Randolph that the amount needed by a heating district boiler would be just “a drop in the bucket.”

The requirements could be met just with cull trees, which would actually result in the growing of more and better timber, the study said. The demand would put extra money in the pockets of landowners and loggers.

Letter Requested
From the selectboard, RACDC needed a letter of support for grant application.

Chris Recchia, speaking for BERC, made the pitch:

”This needs to happen somewhere in the United States,” he said. “Towns like Randolph are the right size for it.

“Speculate in your own minds where the price of oil is going to go. Nobody knows—but we do expect $2 a gallon oil to disappear.
“I’d like Randolph to be in a leadership position in using resources in a responsible, sustainable way.”

Four other towns in Vermont, he noted, have looked at the idea but haven’t done the necessary background work.

“The chance for Randolph is now,” he concluded.

Energy Committee Chair Frank Reed said his group “supports the RACDC having the opportunity to make a proposal.”

Carol Flint moved that the selectboard write the letter of support. She noted that this does not mean the selectboard commits itself to the project, it just approves sending a letter of support for the grant.

Selectman Dennis Brown seconded, and board chair Larry Townsend also voted in favor.

Selectmen Stephen Webster and Joe Voci voted in the negative. Webster immediately explained his vote, saying it was simply because he had not been told in advance that the board would be called upon to take a position at that meeting.