California wood-burning power plants experience own fuel crisis

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California wood-burning power plants experience own fuel crisis ASSOCIATED PRESS January 2, 2001

SACRAMENTO – In the midst of the state's ever-worsening electricity crunch, when every megawatt counts, Northern California's Honey Lake biomass power plant closed Tuesday due to a lack of wood waste to burn for fuel.

The loss of the 30-megawatt Susanville plant barely dents the state's demand of 32,000 megawatts at peak times. But the shutdown illustrates a new power problem: biomass power plants, which provide 2 percent of the state's power supply, are scrambling to find wood to burn during a 90-day moratorium on logging on federal land in eastern California.

The suspension has reduced the amount of biomass – wood waste from agriculture, construction and logging, including trees too small for timber sawmills. That could worsen the energy crunch, said Bob Judd, executive director of the California Biomass Energy Alliance.

"The U.S. Forest Service decision had the inadvertent consequence of threatening the fuel supply, just when we need every megawatt," Judd said.

The state's 30 wood-burning power plants generate 600 megawatts, or enough electricity to serve the needs of more than 300,000 households. They also burn about 5 million tons of waste that would otherwise be shoveled into landfills.

The Honey Lake plant, built in 1989, will be closed for six months, said Dave Allen, the facility's fuel manager. Its 22 employees will stay on the job making repairs and training. The plant will stockpile fuel to reopen in June after timber harvests have begun, he said.

The Forest Service on Dec. 11 postponed timber sales on federal land in the Sierra Nevada due to a lawsuit by environmental activists. The order halts logging until the agency releases the final version of the Sierra Nevada Framework environmental impact statement.

The plan, seven years in the making, will set new rules for logging, recreation, water quality and fire suppression on federal land in the Sierra Nevada region, said Matt Mathes, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

"We feel terrible if we've had any effect on operations, but we don't see that we really have any choice at the moment," Mathes said.

The postponement of biomass harvests will likely last about a month, he said.

"We are anxious to have a market for these smaller-diameter trees. We don't want to see them go to landfills, or be left around as fuel for fires," he said.

But those in the biomass and timber industries worry the Forest Service plan will be beset by lawsuits and the moratorium will stay in place, further limiting the fuel supply.

"The energy shortage brings to light what has been an ongoing dilemma. To suspend operations without just cause is inexcusable," said Chris Nance, spokesman for the California Forestry Association. "The ability of these plants to remain in operation at full capacity has been compromised for several years."

The CFA represents timber and wood-products companies, including logging companies stymied by the federal action.

Allen said the limitations on biomass are a classic case of supply and demand out of balance.

"There's more competition now," Allen said. "There are nine biomass plants that are competing in this area. The thing is, we didn't use to compete."

Biomass plants don't pay for their fuel – it's considered waste and plants pay only to have the wood waste chipped and trucked in for burning.

With a limited number of suppliers and more plants desperate for the product, it's "turning waste into a commodity and our industry can't tolerate that for long," Allen said.

Biomass plants typically use urban, forest or agricultural waste, so it's not tied directly to the price of natural gas, which has been volatile, said Tim Putt, assistant manager of the California Energy Commission's renewable resource program.

"That gives biomass an advantage. It also helps resolve other environmental problems, by using waste to generate power rather than allowing it to go landfills or be burned in the fields," Putt said.

California's electricity grid has been stressed for months by high demand, scant reserves and skyrocketing wholesale prices.

The state's deregulation law, approved in 1996, required investor-owned utilities to operate under price caps until they sold their generating facilities. With higher wholesale costs, the utilities now say they are nearly broke because they can't pass on their costs.

Allen admits biomass can't compete with cheaper gas and coal plants when it comes to price.

"But biomass provides other benefits for which we're not compensated with dollars, including cleaner air and extending the life of landfills," he said.

Biomass can have environmental benefits, but "there are no perfect energy sources," said V. John White, director of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies.

Besides the 30 biomass plants that have been operating, there are about a half-dozen mothballed earlier due to higher operating expenses.

Judd said the owners of some of those are considering reopening, possibly by June, to capitalize on high wholesale prices.

"It would be nice if some reopened," he said. "At the same time, it's even more important that we keep the ones currently operating in production."

http://www.uniontrib.com/news/state/20010102-1811-wst-power-bi.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 03, 2001


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