OUR VIEW ? Energy plan on hold while power plant decision is unresolved

The Holland City Council and Holland Board of Public Works took their first significant step in implementing the far-reaching Community Energy Plan last week, but the city won?t get far as long as the key question of how the BPW will generate electricity in the future remains up in the air.

The approval Wednesday of a steering committee and six implementation teams marks the most significant step taken on the Community Energy Plan since it was presented by the consulting firm Garforth International in September. Garforth offered an ambitious, innovative and multifaceted plan for increasing energy efficiency in Holland, but it sketched out a general framework rather than a detailed course of action. Major questions about cost and feasibility still must be answered. How much are homeowners willing to pay up front to retrofit their homes for energy conservation, and how much aid could the BPW provide? How willing are institutions such as Hope College, Holland Hospital and the Holland school district to participate in cooperative district heating programs? And what will it all mean for the cost of electricity in Holland?

No one can really answer those questions until teams get together to develop concrete plans with real dollar figures attached. That?s what?s needed to give the community a firm basis on which to judge where we go from here.

These task forces can?t go very far, though, with the future of electric generation in Holland unresolved. The BPW once projected a decision in January 2012 on the expansion or replacement of the DeYoung power plant, but has delayed the choice several times. The utility has asked the state Department of Environmental Quality for an extension on its permit to build a 78-megawatt solid fuel-burning generator while at the same time it awaits the results of two studies, one on the direct cost of new electric-generating options and a second on the broader community impacts of those alternatives. We appreciate the BPW?s willingness to collect solid data and analyze this important decision carefully, but the repeated delays have put the BPW?s credibility at risk. And while the BPW waits for its latest consultant reports, almost every other energy-related decision is on hold. Will power still be generated on the Lake Macatawa waterfront? If not, what does that mean for downtown?s snowmelt system and district heating plans? Will the BPW sink $330 million into a power plant that burns coal and other solid fuels or opt for a natural gas generator at half the cost, freeing money for other uses? Almost every element of the Community Energy Plan depends on a decision on that question.

BPW officials said Wednesday that they have data from their consultant in hand and are starting to analyze it. We hope the BPW expedites that analysis, shares the data with the public and initiates a true community discussion as soon as possible. All our future choices on energy use in Holland depend on making the power generation decision first.

Source: http://www.hollandsentinel.com/opinions/x1871994471/OUR-VIEW-Energy-plan-on-hold-while-power-plant-decision-is-unresolved

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