A Message from our General Manager
Biomass Plant Part of Comprehensive Energy Plan
December 7, 2009
A reliable and environmentally responsible source of electricity is at the core of any thriving community. Here in Gainesville, GRU is taking a comprehensive and balanced approach to meeting our community’s energy needs. By combining aggressive energy-efficiency programs to reduce demand with efforts to diversify the fuel supply with renewables – such as solar, landfill gas and, most recently, biomass – GRU is poised to meet those needs well into the future.
GRU’s rebate programs, which were expanded in late 2006 to reduce demand for electricity, have been very popular. In the past three years, more than 10,000 customers have upgraded their homes and businesses with energy-efficient appliances, lowering demand by about 9 megawatts. GRU’s investment in renewable energy has been equally successful. Three megawatts of energy now come from a landfill-gas generation facility in Marion County. And thanks to GRU’s Solar FIT program, 20 megawatts of electricity is expected be powered by the sun within five years.
While these efforts go a long way toward helping our customers save money and add diversity to GRU’s fuel mix, they only account for a small portion of the community’s total energy needs. Currently, the bulk of this energy is produced at two GRU generation stations. These existing resources, though well-maintained, are aging. Prudent planning and investment is necessary to ensure that the community is prepared as older generation units are retired.
That’s why GRU plans to buy power from a new 100-megawatt biomass plant that will be built and owned by American Renewables. The facility will provide a reliable power source well into the future for our customers. Because GRU is not building the plant, customers will not have to pay for this new energy source until the plant begins producing electricity in late 2013.
Gainesville’s choice to go with biomass is a strategic decision. After six years of research and a vibrant public discussion, the City Commission approved the biomass plant based on a thorough evaluation of alternatives, including other renewables and traditional fuel sources like coal and natural gas. Investing in biomass as the primary renewable energy source is the most cost-effective, long-term option currently available in Florida and provides added benefits to the community.
Bond rating agencies agree that a substantial investment in renewable energy sources is important to GRU maintaining its financial strength due to possible renewable-portfolio standards and federal carbon regulations. Biomass will allow Gainesville to be well positioned to face these regulations and to achieve the City’s carbon-reduction goals, which are based on the Kyoto Protocol. It will also shield customers from anticipated increasing fossil-fuel prices.
The new biomass plant will be fueled by forestry waste that is primarily leftover from timber operations, as well as urban wood waste. Biomass energy is considered carbon neutral because it simply releases the same carbon into the atmosphere that would be released naturally if the wood waste was left to decompose in the forest. In contrast, fossil fuels release new carbon into the air when burned – carbon that would otherwise remain buried deep in the earth.
Using local wood waste will have additional environmental benefits. The majority of this material is currently burned openly in fields, allowing a potential energy source to literally go up in smoke with no air-quality controls. The rest of this wood is dumped in landfills or left to decompose in the field, releasing both carbon dioxide and methane, which is at least 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. The biomass plant will use state-of-the-art technology to produce energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions as compared to the current methods for disposal. The fuel will come from suppliers following strict standards to protect the forests, and a forest-stewardship incentive program that is among the most ambitious in the country will reward suppliers that perform to even higher standards.
The biomass plant is a good investment and the right decision for Gainesville at this time. It will enhance the quality of life in our community further by adding more than $5.5 million per year to the local property-tax base; providing more than 400 construction jobs and 45 new jobs at the plant; and supporting nearly 500 permanent jobs in the forestry industry – north central Florida's principle agriculture industry. As a vital part of GRU’s comprehensive energy plan, it will ensure that we continue to provide safe, reliable, competitively priced electricity in an environmentally responsible manner.
Sincerely,
Bob Hunzinger
GRU General Manager
