Deliberations on Laidlaw application to get underway
BY BARBARA TETREAULT
THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
CONCORD — Decision time is coming soon for
Laidlaw Berlin BioPower’s application to construct
and operate a 70-megawatt biomass plant on the
former mill site.
The N.H. Site Evaluation Committee will begin
deliberations on the application on Monday, Sept. 20.
Committee Chair Tom Barack said the committee is
prepared to deliberate as long as it takes, although
technically a decision is due by Sept. 23.
In addition to the 900-page application, the committee
members will shift through pages of data
submitted by Laidlaw and intervenors in the proceedings.
State agencies have ruled on applications
for an air permit, a sewer connection, wastewater
discharge, and other environmental issues. There
has been both a public hearing in Berlin and a site
visit. There are also written comments from the
public, which are being accepted until a decision is
reached.
Last Friday, the committee concluded six days of
adversarial hearings, which provided opportunities
for Laidlaw, the intervenors, and committee members
to question and cross-examine the various technical
witnesses.
Closing statements were made by attorneys for
Laidlaw and the principal opponent of the project,
Clean Power Development. Clean Power is proposing
to develop a 29-megawatt biomass plant in
Berlin on land it purchased near the city’s wastewater
treatment plant.
Clean Power Attorney James Rodier outlined four
main concerns his client has with Laidlaw’s application.
He said the statute requires the applicant demonstrate
it has adequate fi nancial capability to construct
and operate the facility. Without an approved
power purchase agreement, Rodier said Laidlaw
does not have fi nancial capability. He said a power
purchase agreement between Laidlaw and Public
Service of N.H. is currently before the N.H. Public
Utilities Commission. He estimated it will take a
year or two before the PUC makes a ruling and it
goes through the appeal process.
“This project is at a dead stop unless and until
the PUC and the courts sign off on the PPA,” Rodier said.
He said the situation with Laidlaw
is different than it was for Granite
Reliable Power which received conditional
approval from the SEC for its
wind project, subject to fi nal approval
of its fi nancing. He said GRP was able
to demonstrate it had fi nancial capability
without a power agreement. But
because of turmoil in the markets, he
said the SEC put in the condition that
the committee sign off on the fi nancial
package before GRP could start construction.
Rodier said the statute requires the
SEC to look at available alternatives.
He acknowledged in the past the committee
has simply asked the applicant
if it looked at alternate sites. He said
the language actually requires the
committee to look at available alternatives.
For example, he said if CPD
had the PPA with PSNH, it would
have broad support and less impact on
other existing biomass plants and on
the Coos County transmission system
limitation.
Rodier argued the Laidlaw plant
would interfere with the orderly
development of the region, pointing to
issues with transmission capacity and
wood supply. He said existing renewable
energy plants would be impacted
because of the limited capacity on the
Coos transmission system. He also
pointed to testimony that other biomass
plants could not compete with
Laidlaw for wood because its PPA
with PSNH contains a fuel adjustment
clause. He said permitting Laidlaw
could result in more jobs being
lost than the 40 jobs the plant would
create.
Finally, Rodier questioned whether
Laidlaw should be the applicant,
noting the reorganization of the company
just before the hearing opened.
Newco Energy LLC listed as the owner
of LLB, which will lease the property
from PJPD Holdings, LLC.
He said CEO Michael Bartoszek
described the various companies as
bankruptcy remote special purpose
entities. Rodier said they are really
fi rewalls in case anything goes wrong.
“If things go wrong, you’re serving
your summons on a mailbox,” he said.
In his closing statement, Laidlaw
Attorney Barry Needleman countered
that his client has met all the criteria
to be issued a certifi cate of site and
facility.
Needleman said Laidlaw has provided
extensive testimony and documentation
that it has the fi nancial,
technical, and managerial ability to
construct and operate the proposed
biomass plant.
“We maintain that the team we
have assembled and the information
we have provided unequivocally demonstrates
we have the capability to
do those things under the statute,” he
said.
Needleman said Clean Power President
Mel Liston conceded that point
under questioning by SEC member
Don Kent.
He disputed Rodier’s argument
that the SEC is required to consider
potential alternate facilities. He said
Laidlaw is required to consider alternatives
to the project it is proposing
and he said that has been done.
Needleman noted the statute
requires the project not interfere with
the orderly development of the region
with consideration given to the views
of municipal and region governing
bodies. He said the project has wide
support in the region and pointed
to testimony by Berlin Mayor Paul
Grenier, Coos County Commissioner
Burnham Judd, and Executive Councilor
Raymond Burton.
Needleman said the construction
phase will infuse a lot of money into
the community. Once operating, he
said the biomass plant would be the
largest taxpayer in Berlin and would
provide 40 well paying jobs. It would
purchase about $25 million of lowgrade
wood annually, stimulating several
hundred indirect jobs in the forest
industry. He said Laidlaw is seeking
New Market Tax Credits, which would
provide $2.25 million for small business
loans and community projects. Addressing adverse comments about transmission
capacity, Needleman noted they are issues
largely raised by competitors, including Clean
Power Development. He said those issues are
best left to the market.
From the beginning, Needleman said Laidlaw
was aware that wood supply and sustainability
would be major issues. Laidlaw had a wood study
performed showing there is enough wood in the
regional wood basket to supply the plant. He
said Laidlaw has voluntarily included a sustainability
harvesting condition as part of its wood
procurement agreement with Cousineau Forest
Products. Needleman said he believes Laidlaw
would be the fi rst biomass plant in the state with
that requirement.
Testimony Friday morning centered on capacity
on the transmission system in Coos County
to handle the power expected to be generated
by Granite Reliable Power’s 99-megawatt wind
farm, the 70-megawatt Laidlaw biomass plant,
and Clean Power’s 29-megawatt biomass plant.
With some minor upgrading, the transmission
system has capacity for an additional 120 to 130
megawatts. If the wind farm were operating at
maximum capacity, the system would not accommodate
all the new generation.
Clean Power Project Manager Bill Gabler
explained that under Minimum Interconnection
Standards, all of the generation facilities would
bid to transmit power over the system. There
would be days when some facilities could not generate
at full capacity. A legislative committee is
currently studying ways to cover the estimated
$150 million cost to upgrade the line.
Robert Berti, president of North Country Procurement,
testifi ed he believes two or three existing
small biomass plants will close if Laidlaw
comes on-line because they cannot compete for
wood and do not have a power agreement that
will provide the same revenue per megawatt
hour.
Androscoggin Valley Economic Recovery Corporation
Economic Development Director Max
Makaitis testifi ed in support of the Laidlaw plant.
He cited the economic and community benefi ts of
the facility.
The fi nal testimony of the day came from Joe
Casey of N.H. Building Construction Trades Union.
He told the committee his union has reached an
agreement with Laidlaw to give local people preference
in hiring for construction jobs. He said
there are still many people in the North Country
who travel out of the region to work because of a
lack of jobs. He said the agreement with Laidlaw,
will allow those workers to stay with their families
and children and earn a living wage.
............whew!
