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Holland, MI—The Holland Board of Public Works today announced that Holland City Council has approved a buy/sell agreement for a parcel of land that will be the cornerstone of the community’s new power generating facility.

Located at the east end of Holland, the land approved for purchase is a 9.7 acre commercial/industrial parcel located around the intersection of Fifth Street and Fairbanks Avenue.

“We’re very pleased to have reached an agreement on the site,” said David Koster, Holland BPW general manager. “It is ideally located for maintenance and possible expansion of our snowmelt system and provides the needed proximity to downtown for potential district heating. In addition, we believe that the project will positively enhance the eastern gateway to the city.”

The project timing calls for the relocation of 17 commercial tenants at the site to begin in the late summer or early fall, and demolition of the existing site structures will take place late this year. In addition to the 9.7-acre parcel, the HBPW will also acquire a number of residential and commercial properties in the immediate vicinity that are needed to complete the project.

View the HBPW Power Plant Project Timeline »

This includes about 21 residential properties in the immediate vicinity, but residents there won’t be affected until some time in 2014.  The Holland BPW has already contracted a local firm to begin discussions with residents about the project and to negotiate for property purchases.

“We plan to maintain open lines of communication with the residents and property owners in the area and proceed in a very fair and responsible way with the intended property purchases,” Koster said.

After the extensive evaluation of new power needs and supply in the P21 process, which included public education events, citizen and stakeholder input and a Sustainable Return on Investment analysis, the Holland BPW began site selection for the new facility by looking at nine potential sites across the community. Considerations that helped identify the site included site conditions, available space and access to services such as water supply, gas supply, transmission interconnection and roads. In addition, for services like snowmelt–and possibly district heating–to be cost effective, the site needed to be close enough to downtown to allow for efficient transfer of heat. The provision of those services is an important part of the economic and energy efficiency goals in the Community Energy Plan.

With thoughtful design, careful construction and the installation of an attractive greenbelt, the facility and its surrounding area will provide an aesthetically pleasing entry way at the east end of the City of Holland.

“This is an exciting project for our community,” Koster said. “We’re taking a giant step toward a cleaner, more sustainable energy future and using the new facility to make enhancements to the community across the board.”

The Holland Board of Public Works (HBPW) is a community-owned enterprise providing electric generation and distribution, water, wastewater treatment and broadband utility services to nearly 28,000 business and residential customers in the Holland area. HBPW is committed to enhancing the economic and environmental vitality of the community, providing reliable services at the lowest rates achievable through innovation and efficiency.

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From the Holland Sentinel | Read Full Article

Holland — The Holland Board of Public Works was awarded Monday the Diamond recognition from the American Public Power Association.

The award recognizes companies that provide the highest degree of reliable and safe electric service to its customers, and the BPW was one of six to earn the recognition. There are 2,006 public power companies in the U.S. Only 12 have earned the award, BPW General Manager Dave Koster said.

The award was given Monday by Brent McKinney, chair of APPA’s RP3 Review Panel at the association’s annual Engineering and Operations Technical Conference in Kissimmee, Fla., it recognizes public power utilities that demonstrate proficiency in four key disciplines: Reliability, safety, workforce development and system improvement, according to a statement from the BPW. Criteria within each category are based on business practices and represent a utility-wide commitment to safe and reliable delivery of electricity.

“Receiving the RP3 Diamond designation is a testament to our staff and the great work they do on a daily basis,” Koster said. “It’s an honor to be recognized on a national level for the work we are doing locally in Holland.”

The BPW learned Monday it also was awarded the APPA Community Service award for various projects it has done in the community including Adopt-A-Highway, National Night Out participation, recycling events and sponsoring the Hope College Student Housing Energy-Saving Competition.

This award is given to public power utilities that have demonstrated commitment of the utility and its employees by enhancing the quality of life in the community through activities that address a community need or improve the community’s social, cultural, educational or economic environment, while providing an opportunity for employee involvement.

The BPW “is committed to being involved in the Holland community,” Koster said, adding there is more than 30 programs it’s involved in. It is a way for the BPW to give back, “but it gives our employees a chance to be involved in a variety of community service projects as well.”

That award will be presented to BPW on June 18 at the APPA National Conference in Nashville, Tenn.

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From the Holland Sentinel

Holland —  The city of Holland and its Board of Public Works will move forward with the 114-megawatt combined cycle natural gas power plant.

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 Capstone Event Presentation 

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Holland,MI—The recommendations for future power generation released today by the Holland Board of Public Works would lead to dramatic reductions in greenhouse gases and particulate emissions, while at the same time making big gains in energy and cost efficiency.

The recommendations will be reviewed with the Community Stakeholders Panel at a public meeting on October 29 and formally submitted to the BPW’s Board of Directors and the Holland City Council in November.

“We are very pleased that this broad community effort has arrived at a set of recommendations that are fully in step with the Holland Community Energy Plan and that can move our community forward in every significant measure,” said Dave Koster, general manager of HBPW. “The participation and input from people across our community have led to some very strong options for powering our future.”

The recommendations mark the conclusion of an exhaustive year-long analysis that engaged the participation of the HBPW staff, leading engineering and energy consulting firms and stakeholders from across the community that included representatives from business, government, education, environmental groups and the community at large.

The potential gains from the HBPW’s recommendations are significant. According the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, power generated by natural gas produces half as much carbon dioxide, less than a third as much nitrogen oxides, and one percent as much sulfur oxides as comparable coal-fired generation.  In addition, the recommendations would keep the levelized cost of electricity relatively the same and would add extensively to the HBPW’s capabilities to provide expanded snow melt and other energy-saving services such as district heating.

“The work on the part of the community that led to these recommendations has been cited as a leading example of thorough, open and inclusive decision making,” Koster said.

Following are the recommendations released today, and key factors for each:

1. Base Load Generation: Pursue combined-cycle natural gas technology in a configuration that may include two gas-powered turbines providing 114MW of electric power..

Key Factors

• Economy of scale
• Operational efficiency
• Additional waste heat availability for district heating and snowmelt
• Opportunity for collaboration with other municipals
• Supports ability to power the system and our community internally.

2. Location For New Resource: Preferred site not James De Young.

Key Factors

• Constructability of site
• Lake access is no longer needed for cooling
• Alternatives are closer to both the proposed gas pipeline route and district heating networks
• Need to preserve access to roads and high-voltage distribution.

3.1 Renewable Energy: Enter into 10-year Power Purchase Agreement with E.ON Wildcat for 15 MW of wind generation produced near Elwood, Indiana.

Key Factors

• Complements current portfolio of landfill gas and biomass resources
• Excellent pricing without operational or development risk
• Pay as power is received preserves capital for other investments.

3.2 Renewable Energy: Complete 20 year agreement with Beebe Wind LLC for approximately 17 MW of wind generation produced near Ithaca, Michigan.

Key Factors

• Pricing competitive with E.ON Wildcat I project
• Dependent upon the extension of Production Tax Credits in their current form
• Working to build a group of Michigan municipal entities to fully subscribe the development.

4. Existing Units at James De Young Facility: No further capital investments in control technology to meet upcoming regulations.

Key Factors

• Unit 5 (28MW) will need to stop burning coal in next 3-4 years
• Unit 3 (11 MW) and Unit 4 (22 MW) are affected by proposed rule that is being reconsidered
• Monitor regulations and technology improvements
• Preserve capacity by utilizing natural gas capability.

Other Recommendations

Also included with the base recommendations were a set of proposed next steps to be taken when the Board and Council approve a base load plan. These included:

• Engage services of an owner’s engineer to assist with management of the project.
• Initiate the site selection process for locating a new unit.
• Hire HT Engineering for gas pipeline design services.
• Procure fuel management services and begin development of hedge plan for natural gas.

If accepted and enacted, the recommendations released today will deliver to the community affordable, reliable future energy, a more diverse energy portfolio, cleaner fuel, dramatically lowered emissions, greater integration of renewable energy resources and much higher energy efficiency for theHollandcommunity.

The Holland Board of Public Works is a community-owned enterprise providing utility services to nearly 28,000 business and residential customers in theHollandarea. We are committed to improving the economic and environmental quality of the community in partnership with our customers, providing reliable services at the lowest rates achievable through innovation, efficiency, and professional operations. We provide electric generation and distribution, water and wastewater treatment to the City ofHollandand selected areas.

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The event will serve as the “Capstone” Event for the Sustainable Return on Investment (SROI), and we will review and discuss materials and data for new generation options.

Register on Facebook, and let us know if you plan to attend!

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We hired HDR, a global independent consulting firm, to help us conduct an exhaustive sustainable return on investment study (SROI). It looked at affordability and reliability, but also at the social, economic, environmental and health impacts of a variety of options.

We looked at a lot of options—everything from state-of-the-art solid fuel generation to purchasing primarily from the grid.

Today, we’re pleased to share the results of that study with you.

In the PDF below, you’ll find last night’s presentation with synopses of each scenario HDR evaluated. Scenarios A to D are options specific to the Community Energy Plan. Scenarios E & F are options that involve no new local generation–just purchasing power from the grid. Scenario G is a more ambitious look at the Scenario A approach with a larger combined cycle unit.

Starting today, August 9, we are opening up a period for public commenting to hear your voice as we continue the decision making process. You can submit your comments here on the website.

 SROI Results with Synopses

Update — October 15, 2012

The above results tables includes synopses from HDR’s presentation. Please download the document below to view HDR’s SROI Analysis Final Report.

 HDR SROI Analysis Final Report

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