BY SHERI McWHIRTER
smcwhirter@record-eagle.com
TRAVERSE CITY — Traverse City Light & Power may not be able to reach its renewable energy goals after its board formally abandoned plans to build wood-burning biomass power plants.
The publicly owned utility discontinued any further analysis of biomass technology following a groundswell of opposition. Now officials must look at whether their goal of 30 percent renewable energy sources by 2020 is attainable.
"Moving away from biomass makes it more difficult to achieve," said Mike Coco, Light & Power's board chairman.
Ed Rice, the utility's executive director, said Light & Power already met the state mandate for 10 percent renewable energy by 2015 through investments in a nearby wind farm and landfill gas energy. Now the board may have to decide whether to reduce its more-ambitious renewable energy goal.
Officials said this month that they put biomass "on the back burner," but now the wood-fueled power option is officially off the menu.
That decision didn't surprise Margaret Dodd, former Traverse City mayor, who organized a petition drive to put future Light & Power energy generation plans on the ballot. Public opposition to biomass and support for her petition drive likely impacted the utility's decision, she said.
"It had a huge influence," Dodd said. "They obviously want to distance themselves from this. I'm happy, but I'm certainly not surprised."
Coco acknowledged the primary reason Light & Power scrapped plans for biomass power plants is community feedback. It wasn't an easy decision, he said, because the board saw potential benefits to the technology and invested a lot of staff time on research.
"The board could have done better in communicating with the public in our process to go forward," Coco said. "The conversation needs to be different the next time around."
That next conversation is on the horizon, as Light & Power buys much of its energy from downstate providers and purchase contracts end this year. Stopgap contracts are being negotiated, but new power sources must be found as those coal-fired power plants will eventually be decommissioned, Coco said.
Biomass opponent Jeff Gibbs said getting off fossil fuels is tougher than once believed and difficult choices must be made. Moving past biomass is a first step, he said.
"It's great that they cleared the air so now the public can take a fresh look at this," Gibbs said.
Light & Power board members will meet again next month to continue work on a strategic plan for renewable energy sources, and whether local generation remains a possibility.
