BIPCo long-range forecasters introduce themselves to Town Council By Peter Voskamp

Members of the Town Council met with representatives of HDR, the Nebraska-based company selected by the IRP (Integrated Resource Plan) working group to conduct a long-range forecast for the Block Island Power Company.

The brief introductory session took place at Town Hall on Wednesday, May 10.

Also in attendance were the three members of the IRP group - Town representative Everett Shorey, BIPCo President Al Casazza, and Public Utilities Commission representative Steve Scialabba. As Shorey explained, the working group was established after the last BIPCo rate case in order to explore the long-range energy needs of the island. Of the three consulting firms that entered bids, Shorey said HDR "had done by far the best presentation."

Company Vice President Steve Shelton said HDR had already conducted some engineering work for BIPCo and had some baseline data. Christy Hooker, an electrical engineer, explained that she would be in charge of "load forecasting" for the study. Currently, she said, the island's power plant has grown to an almost 4 megawatt facililty, and what makes the island unique is that the peak load only comes during approximately four months of the year. She will try to gauge what the island's future power needs will be, in part by looking at larger commercial concerns. For instance, are hotels planning to expand or to install air-conditioning? And, Hooker said, if the "system peak" is to grow, what's the most efficient way to address that? Options include the current diesel generator approach, an alternative source or perhaps a submarine cable.

Stephanie White will join Hooker on the island for the next few days to conduct interviews. She said her job will be to collect data from as many residents and businesses as possible. She and Hooker were to be at the library the next few days to hold interviews. BIPCo President Casazza also pointed out that the group should be "cognizant of who we don't see" - meaning the many thousands of visitors in the summer who push up the power demand.

White also planned to speak with island-based engineer Chris Warfel as well as the previous members of the now disbanded Municipal Energy Committee, Chick Marcoux and Norris Pike.

Finally, Joe McGrath spoke. He was introduced by his nickname, "the sweeper," because his job will be to "cohesively combine" all the data gathered for the study and come up with a set of options. He acknowledged that his will be an "educated guess" in many ways because the options will be "fraught with a number of assumptions." For example, he said that no one in the room that night could predict what the cost of fuel would be in the next few months, yet "this utility depends on" diesel fuel.

McGrath went on to say that before he joined HDR he worked for a "very progressive" utility that leaned toward renewables and energy efficiency. He's also acted as an consultant both on behalf of and against different utilities.

In response to a question, Shelton said the report should be prepared in 240-270 days.

Shorey reminded all in attendence that the quality of the report would be dependent on the quality and volume of information the consultants received, "so don't hang back," he said.

In thanking the group for the presentation, Town Manager Nancy Dodge said, "We are delighted that we're having this three-way conversation."

Informal discussion

There was not a quorum that night - only First Warden Jack Savoie and Councilor Ned Connelly were in attendance along with Dodge and Town Clerk Molly Fitzpatrick - but an informal discussion took place after the HDR presentation with members of the Planning Board about potential changes to the Zoning Ordinance. The majority of time was spent talking about the Detached Multi-Family development designation, which the Planning Board is either considering making more restrictive or doing away with altogether (See Story, Page 10).

Another concern, expressed by Planning Board member Dick Martin, was that there is little enforcement or penalty when housing violations occur on the island, especially in the summer when employee housing is not up to code. "There's no bite," he said, and suggested a daily fine might help. Connelly, who is also the town's fire chief, said that once members of the fire department are trained to be Assistant Deputy State Fire Marshals, then they will have more ability to exact a fine or penalty. However, they would not be in a position to do that until next summer.