Laidlaw Energy Group, Inc.(fka LLEG)

[rich sears]

Hey don’t take this news to hard, there is always the MA, or Illinois or whatever project in the pipeline? Keep your chin up. Soon. Patience.

http://www.laconiadailysun.com/BerlinPDF/2010/5/7B.pdf

BERLIN — Laidlaw Berlin BioPower officials and consultants were grilled for over six hours Wednesday on the technical aspects of their proposed biomass plant. Questions focused on the company’s financial structure and capacity, wood supply and sustainability, local impacts of noise and truck traffic, and the Coos transmission system. The technical session was an opportunity for intervenors to seek further information beyond answers provided by Laidlaw to written questions as part of its permitting process before the state Site Evaluation Committee. The two Co-Counsel for the Public opened the session and Senior Assistant Attorneys- General Allen Brooks and Peter Roth exhaustively quizzed Laidlaw officials for about three hours. Roth, in particular, honed in on the financial aspects of the project. Laidlaw President Michael Bartoszek explained that PJPD Holdings, LLC., owns the property and assets. Laidlaw is the applicant and will obtain the necessary permits and will operate the facility. PJPD is wholly owned by Aware Energy Funding, LLC., which in turn is wholly owned by NewCo Energy, LLC. Both Aware Energy and NewCo are incorporated in Delaware. Bartoszek said Laidlaw has spent $12 million on the project already and has another $3 million in hand from PJPD to complete the permitting process. He said Laidlaw and PJPD expect to finance the estimated $160 million required to construct the 70-megawatt plant by raising $120 million through institutional investors and $40 million in equity funding from New Co. Roth pointed out Laidlaw does not have a financial model showing the plant would be profitable and suggested it was a little reckless not to have such modeling. He reminded Laidlaw that it has the burden of proving it has the financial capability to construct and operate the plant. “I don’t know how you’re going to get financing if you don’t have a financial model,” Roth said. Bartoszek said there are financial documents that have not been released to the intervenors because of confidential issues. Laidlaw Attorney Barry Needleman indicated the documents will be available to Counsel for the Public and the city of Berlin once his client files a confidential agreement that will limit third party access to the documents. Bartoszek said Laidlaw also expects to have a power purchase agreement in place by the end of the SEC process which will give his firm an investment grade utility rating. But citing confidentiality, he refused to answer whether the anticipated power purchase agreement with Public Service of N.H. will include a fuel price adjustment. Roth noted Laidlaw has no chief financial officer and asked if anyone on Laidlaw’s management team had ever raised $110 million for a biomass plant before. Carl Strickler, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Fibrowatt LLC, said he raised $200 million in 2004 for a plant in Texas. Brooks asked about the life span for a biomass facility and if Laidlaw could provide models of other long operating profitable biomass facilities. He asked what such a facility can offer Berlin residents in terms of stability. Bartoszek said no business can predict future operations. Laidlaw Vice President Lou Bravakis said the presence of the former chemical recovery boiler is a huge advantage, allowing Laidlaw to reduce construction costs significantly. Another main focus for the intervenors was whether there is sufficient wood in the region to supply the facility using sustainable harvesting practices. Clean Power Development, which has a proposal to develop a 29-megawatt biomass plant in Berlin, has argued there is not enough wood for both facilities and existing users. Both developers have submitted wood studies representing their point of view. Laidlaw has objected to questions about wood availability and sustainable harvesting, arguing fuel procurement is outside the Site Evaluation Committee’s purview. In spite of that objection, Laidlaw said it has a wood study by Landvest, showing there is sufficient wood for both facilities. Bravakis said the study shows there is 7.2 million tons of wood available annually with current usage at 6 million tons. He said Laidlaw would use 750,000 annually and Clean Power would use 300,000 tons. The issue of wood supply lead to an testy exchange between Clean Power President Mel Liston and Bartoszek. As Liston repeatedly questioned his counterpart about the wood supply issue, Bartoszek said he doubts Clean Power will get built. “I don’t think there’s a very high likelihood your project is going to go through,” Bartoszek LAIDLAW from page 21 said, Michael Iacopino, attorney for the Site Evaluation Committee, reminded the attorneys that the session is designed as an opportunity for the intervenors to get information. He said the time to make arguments is during the adjudicatory hearings scheduled for August. Attorney Arthur Cunningham, representing the N.H. Sierra Club, said the environmental group is most concerned that wood used at the plant is harvested in a way that protects the health of the region’s forests. He stressed the Sierra Club is not opposed to biomass plants. He urged Laidlaw to take the initiative and put in place a procurement policy that requires wood used at the facility to be harvested using sustainable forestry practices. Bravakis said Laidlaw plans to develop a procurement policy that requires third party verification of sustainable forestry practices. Cunningham asked if the plan would be in writing and Bravakis said it would. Clean Power Attorney James Rodier asked if there is capacity on the Coos Transmission system for the output of Granite Reliable Power’s wind farm and the Laidlaw and Clean Power biomass plants. He pointed out a study performed for the North Country Transmission Commission indicates there is not enough room. Bartoszek said everyone is free to draw their own conclusions from the study. He said Laidlaw ISONew England, which manages the region’s supply, is conducting a system impact study for the Laidlaw project. He noted all three developers have requested to interconnect to the grid. Representing the city of Berlin, Attorney Peter Van Ooh addressed issues of noise and truck traffic. He reported the Berlin planning board voted Tuesday to ask that noise levels not exceed 55 decibels at the perimeter of the property. The board also asked that no wood delivers be allowed on Sundays and between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. Monday though Saturday. A second technical session is scheduled for June 25. That session will be for witnesses called by the Counsel for the Public and the intervenors and will also be held in Berlin.