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February 26, 2010

Light & Power fields biomass questions

BY ART BUKOWSKI

TRAVERSE CITY -- About 125 people covered the walls of the Traverse City Opera House with their questions and concerns about biomass.

Traverse City Light & Power hosted the first of two public biomass forums at the Opera House Thursday evening. Officials divvied up the crowd into six large groups, and facilitators scribbled residents' sentiments onto large sheets of paper and taped them up around the room.

Light & Power expects to decide soon whether to build a wood-burning power plant in Traverse City, and the forum was intended to gather public questions and input about the potential project.

A second and final input forum will be held 2 p.m. Saturday at the Hagerty Center.

Officials hope to have answers to the public's questions -- and a decision whether to pursue or abandon biomass ambitions -- by April.

About 95 percent of Light & Power's energy comes from coal burned downstate, and another 4 percent comes from local non-renewable natural gas.

Light & Power officials contend a biomass plant would create jobs, provide a reliable source of local generation and help the utility meet its goal of producing 30 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.

Officials asked the crowd three questions: What they liked about the 30 by 20 plan, what their dislikes or concerns were, and what specifically Light & Power should do.

Residents like the concept of local generation and the concept of local job creation, and strongly favor Light & Power's "bold" goal of 30 percent renewable.

But they're concerned that the plant would negatively impact the environment. Residents want to know how Light & Power knows area forests can keep up with demand for fuel, and what would happen with the tons of ash created from burned wood, among other things.

They also questioned if wood is a realistically renewable resource, and if Light & Power's studies took into consideration the potential for wood competition from other biomass plants that might be built.

Some residents also want to know if Light & Power gave serious consideration to other renewable energy sources, and if Light & Power officials truly plan to listen to the public before making a decision.

The most common suggestion for Light & Power was to offer incentives or subsidies to customers for increased energy conservation, though some implored the utility to avoid biomass.

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