BIPCo, town, detail components of Integrated Resource Plan By Abby Fox The Block Island Power Company is on the verge of soliciting bids to develop an Integrated Resource Plan — a study of long-term electricity supply needs — that will cover the next 10 years.

The plan involves writing a forecast of future energy needs and evaluating various alternatives BIPCo could use to meet those needs — conservation programs, a cable to the mainland, etc.

The Request for Proposals, or RFP, to create the plan was put together on Oct. 13 at the Public Utilities Commission's office in Warwick by Everett Shorey, representing the town; Steve Scialabba of the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers; and Al Cassazza, president of the Block Island Power Company. The Town Council also contributed some input at a meeting in September. The bids to create the plan will probably go out in the next week or so, Shorey said.

The group started meeting last month as a result of the recent rate case settlement that orders the town and BIPCo to work together in a group to "oversee the development of an IRP to be implemented by BIPCo, subject to oversight by the Commission," according to the PUC's final order. The next meeting of the group hasn't been scheduled. If a member of the public wishes to attend, he or she can contact Shorey, he said.

What the group accomplishes matters to BIPCo customers because they're paying for the plan — 0.01 cents per kilowatt-hour during the summer billing period, June through September. That amounts to about $55,000 a year.

Furthermore, it matters because there's still a wide gap between what island customers have to pay for their power compared to mainland customers, a gap that could be narrowed, partially, by following through on an IRP.

Alan Nault, rate analyst for the PUC, said this week that an average Narragansett Electric residential customer, using 500 kilowatt-hours a month, pays 14 cents per kilowatt-hour, or $70.58 a month. In contrast, resident BIPCo customers on the island pay 42 cents per kilowatt-hour in the summer, or $209.50 a month, and 29.7 cents the rest of the year, or $148.50 a month.

Options to study

It's not up to the chosen contractor to decide how BIPCo should run its business; rather, the plan is supposed to lay out ideas and information that BIPCo and the group will use to make the final decisions. It involves detailing "the technical merit, cost, and benefits" of several alternatives, the RFP states, but it can't "specifically recommend any alternative."

The group has charged the contractor with researching these options for BIPCo: a) continuing to rely exclusively on diesel generators; b) a potential cable to the mainland managed by BIPCo; c) a cable to the mainland managed by a third party; d) wind turbines; and e) customer-owned diesel generators.

The plan won't necessarily be limited to just those options. The above list "is intended to focus study efforts on a limited set of realistic options. It is not intended to foreclose consideration of other options," the RFP states. "The Committee is primarily interested in the pursuit of proven, commercially available technologies, and it does not seek to utilize its limited planning resources to investigate experimental technologies."

But, the RFP adds, if a contractor is interested in researching other alternative means of energy generation — such as solar energy and co-generation — it will have to give reasons for doing so. "If a contractor is aware of commercially feasible technologies that it believes are appropriate for use by BIPCo but not included in the above list of alternatives, the Committee encourages the Contractor to identify that alternative in its response to this RFP and explain why it should be considered as part of this study," it states.

For instance, the RFP states, the committee "is interested in the contractor's views on whether to include tidal or wave generation in the set of supply options and also on the potential applicability of any other future technologies for a small island community."

Once the contractor gives some suggestions for study, "the Committee in consultation with the contractor will decide on a final list of supply options."

Town Councilor Bob Smith, who encouraged Shorey at last month's Town Council meeting to have the plan explore more alternative energy technologies, said he was disappointed with the final RFP.

"I think it presupposes that a cable to the mainland is the best solution," he said. The technologies the RFP has highlighted for further study are almost all "fossil-fuel based," he said, and aren't "innovative enough."

The RFP warns bidders that the island has limited capabilities and large projects can't be done by the power company or by the town. "Neither Block Island nor the Town of New Shoreham have extensive capabilities in marketing or administering demand-side options," it states. "Therefore programs requiring substantial marketing or administrative effort must include plans for implementation by a third party or other source without substantial utility oversight."

Results expected

Whichever company the group chooses to be the contractor will be on a tight schedule, according to the RFP. The contractor will have to report progress in several increments: within two weeks, 30 days, 60 days, 120 days, 180 days and 210 days. Throughout the IRP period, the contractor will report to the committee of Shorey, Cassazza and Scialabba and discuss the next steps.

Within six months of the project, the contractor will be expected to submit a draft report reviewing alternatives for BIPCo. And within seven months, the contractor must provide a draft report evaluating the "technical and economic feasibility" of various options for BIPCo.