Published: July 08, 2008 11:00 PM

Burns Lake District News

June 27 has come and gone, and there will be no public word on the fate of three local proposals for bioenergy projects put forward to BC Hydro for consideration earlier this spring.

BC Hydro's Community relations Manager, Bob Gammer, informed LD News, "BC Hydro will not be publicly releasing the short-list. Of those who are short-listed, some will be successful, some will not. BC Hydro will announce the names of the successful candidates on the short-list, once electricity purchase agreements have been concluded between those companies and BC Hydro."

BC Hydro had originally set June 27 as the date when successful candidates from the original 15 or 16 bioenergy proposals submitted would be short-listed.

Several local companies stepped up to the plate when BC Hydro's call for bioenergy projects was released.

Cheslatta Forest Products, Hampton Industries, and Comfor Management Services Ltd. all teamed up with other companies to put forward proposals for cogeneration plants, after BC Hydro announced a call for green bioenergy proposals last winter.

Pristine Power is one of the companies in partnership with both the Cheslatta and Hampton bids.

Pristine Vice-President Harvie Campbell, contacted by LD News last Friday as to whether his company had heard anything from BC Hydro, said, "Not a word. June 27 was the date originally set for short-listing. Then, I heard that BC Hydro had deferred everything by a week, due to the volume of proposals they had received. I'm expecting an announcement any day, but I haven't heard a thing."

The Burns Lake Band (BLB ) is in partnership with Hampton Industries and Pristine Power on one of the local bioenergy proposals.

BLB councillor Wes Sam commented, "I haven't heard a thing either. I thought there might be an announcement today [Friday]. I think our proposal has a good chance of being short listed. I believe it was one of the best proposals put forward to BC Hydro."

Cheslatta Forest Products, in partnership with Pristine Power, Carrier Lumber, and Cheslatta Carrier Nation (CCN), was the first off the blocks with a bioenergy proposal in March.

Their proposal was to construct a 10 MegaWatt power plant adjacent to Cheslatta Forest Products, using mill residue and roadside wood debris to generate clean energy.

One of the added benefits of the Cheslatta green energy proposal would be upgrading the present 18-km power line that runs from Southbank, from single to three-phrase power; in addition, a 16.5-km three-phase power line would be built from where the present line ends, all the way to Cheslatta Forest Products.

"Getting three-phase power creates a potential for light industry, but we can't do anything without three-phrase power," said CCN senior policy advisor Mike Robertson. "This power plant [if BC Hydro accepts the proposal] will go a long way towards sustaining the community."

Second up in the local bioenergy project proposals was the Ditny Yoh biomass green energy proposal, announced in mid-May.

The project, a partnership between BLB, Hampton Industries, and Pristine Power, called for a 20 MegaWatt cogeneration plant to be built at Babine Forest Products, adjacent to the plant, using mill residue and roadside wood debris to generate clean energy.

The last local bioenergy project, put forward in late May, was a quadruple partnership consisting of Comfor Management Services Ltd. and three out-of-town partners - U.S.-based Renegy Enlightened Generation; the Pioneer Group of companies out of Williams Lake; and Quesnel-based Pinnacle Power - who want to build a 15 MegaWatt cogeneration plant east of Decker Lake.

That plant's main wood supply would be beetle-killed pine stands and roadside debris.

It would be a stand-alone operation, not connected to a mill like the other local proposals, so would use no mill residue.

June 27 has come and gone, and there will be no public word on the fate of three local proposals for bioenergy projects put forward to BC Hydro for consideration earlier this spring.

BC Hydro's Community relations Manager, Bob Gammer, informed LD News, "BC Hydro will not be publicly releasing the short-list. Of those who are short-listed, some will be successful, some will not. BC Hydro will announce the names of the successful candidates on the short-list, once electricity purchase agreements have been concluded between those companies and BC Hydro."

BC Hydro had originally set June 27 as the date when successful candidates from the original 15 or 16 bioenergy proposals submitted would be short-listed.

Several local companies stepped up to the plate when BC Hydro's call for bioenergy projects was released.

Cheslatta Forest Products, Hampton Industries, and Comfor Management Services Ltd. all teamed up with other companies to put forward proposals for cogeneration plants, after BC Hydro announced a call for green bioenergy proposals last winter.

Pristine Power is one of the companies in partnership with both the Cheslatta and Hampton bids.

Pristine Vice-President Harvie Campbell, contacted by LD News last Friday as to whether his company had heard anything from BC Hydro, said, "Not a word. June 27 was the date originally set for short-listing. Then, I heard that BC Hydro had deferred everything by a week, due to the volume of proposals they had received. I'm expecting an announcement any day, but I haven't heard a thing."

The Burns Lake Band (BLB ) is in partnership with Hampton Industries and Pristine Power on one of the local bioenergy proposals.

BLB councillor Wes Sam commented, "I haven't heard a thing either. I thought there might be an announcement today [Friday]. I think our proposal has a good chance of being short listed. I believe it was one of the best proposals put forward to BC Hydro."

Cheslatta Forest Products, in partnership with Pristine Power, Carrier Lumber, and Cheslatta Carrier Nation (CCN), was the first off the blocks with a bioenergy proposal in March.

Their proposal was to construct a 10 MegaWatt power plant adjacent to Cheslatta Forest Products, using mill residue and roadside wood debris to generate clean energy.

One of the added benefits of the Cheslatta green energy proposal would be upgrading the present 18-km power line that runs from Southbank, from single to three-phrase power; in addition, a 16.5-km three-phase power line would be built from where the present line ends, all the way to Cheslatta Forest Products.

"Getting three-phase power creates a potential for light industry, but we can't do anything without three-phrase power," said CCN senior policy advisor Mike Robertson. "This power plant [if BC Hydro accepts the proposal] will go a long way towards sustaining the community."

Second up in the local bioenergy project proposals was the Ditny Yoh biomass green energy proposal, announced in mid-May.

The project, a partnership between BLB, Hampton Industries, and Pristine Power, called for a 20 MegaWatt cogeneration plant to be built at Babine Forest Products, adjacent to the plant, using mill residue and roadside wood debris to generate clean energy.

The last local bioenergy project, put forward in late May, was a quadruple partnership consisting of Comfor Management Services Ltd. and three out-of-town partners - U.S.-based Renegy Enlightened Generation; the Pioneer Group of companies out of Williams Lake; and Quesnel-based Pinnacle Power - who want to build a 15 MegaWatt cogeneration plant east of Decker Lake.

That plant's main wood supply would be beetle-killed pine stands and roadside debris.

It would be a stand-alone operation, not connected to a mill like the other local proposals, so would use no mill residue.