By Susan Allen
(Times Argus, January 22, 2010) Montpelier — Sen. Bernard Sanders announced Thursday that Montpelier will receive an $8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to bring wood-fueled heat and power from the state plant into the city’s downtown, serving City Hall and more than 150 other downtown buildings. The funds are part of $20.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support community-based renewable energy projects, such as wood, wind and solar installations, the DOE said. There were a total of five projects selected for funds.
In addition to Montpelier, funds were earmarked for projects in Wisconsin, Colorado and two in California.
“Smaller, more localized renewable energy systems need to play a role in our comprehensive energy portfolio,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu in a release issued Thursday. “These projects will help create jobs, expand our clean energy economy, and help us cut carbon pollution at the local level.”
Work on the Montpelier project has been under way for more than a decade, with the city talking to the state about extending piping from the state’s wood-and-oil fired boiler system into the downtown to serve City Hall and downtown buildings.
The state’s heating plant is aging, said Gwendolyn Hallsmith, director of Planning and Community Development for Montpelier. She said the initial plan – which stalled, but is now back on track – was for the city and state to work together to not only refurbish the state structure, but add the piping needed to bring the power downtown.
In recent years, that option appeared unlikely and the city had been working independently to possibly build an energy plant – a wood-burning facility – to meet its needs.
However, after learning of the grant option, the city, state and private firm, Veolia Energy North America, began working together to jumpstart talk of a shared energy project and create a public-private project.
“We went back to the state and said let’s talk about us cooperating again rather than the city being on its own path,” said Hallsmith.
She said she was thrilled to receive news of the grant on Thursday, first from City Manager William Fraser and then from Sanders.
“Bill called and said, ‘Are you sitting down?’ He told me. Then I had a personal call from Sen. Sanders,” Hallsmith said. “I think I screamed. I was so thrilled. There were only five awarded in the country, and we got almost half. It takes your breath away.”
Among the buildings that would be heated by the new system would be the state complex, city-owned schools, the City Hall building and up to 156 buildings in the community’s designated downtown district, for a total of 176 buildings and 1.8 million square feet served. Click here to read more…