District Energy System Focus Tonight

Wednesday, July 07, 2010 03:45 AM

Prince George, B.C.- Tonight, the public is invited to an open house to get some details on the proposed Downtown District Energy System.

A special meeting is set for 6:30 in the second floor conference room at City Hall.

The system will see the City of Prince George picking up the tab for the capital costs of equipment (including an electrostatic precipitator) that will be set up at Lakeland Mills on River Road. Lakeland will supply the bio mass,

According to the City, the reduction in particulate is the equivalent of putting more than 5 thousand woodstoves a year out of commission.

The new system will see heat pipes laid underground to the underground utility corridor in the alley west of George Street.

The total cost of the project is $14,141,000, of which the City will need to borrow $3.67 million. The City says that debt will be paid in full in three years.

There is an alternate approval process underway for this project, not because of the cost but because the agreement with Lakeland Mills is longer than 5 years. Those who oppose the project have until 4 p.m. on July 21^st to register that opposition. In order for the agreement to be quashed, the City will have to receive signatures from 5,235 eligible voters in Prince George.

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Posted on Wednesday, July 07, 2010 03:45 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Palopu on July 7 2010 8:17 AM

$7 Million dollars for this project is coming from the Federal Government Gas Tax Transfer money. (Money we paid at the pumps) $3.5 Million they already have, and $3.5 Million they will get next year and use to pay off the borrowed $3.5 Million

The City has a choice on where to spend this money, ie; Water, Sewer, Garbage, Green Projects, Roads or Bridges. Seems they arbitraly decided to build this bloody energy system.

This means that we will continue to not get our roads paved, and pay more for garbage disposal etc; while the City spends our money on an unproven, highly speculative project, that really should never be built.

The benefits insofar as less particulates released into the atmosphere is nebulous at best.

The chance of getting 5235 signatures to stop this project are **NIL**

So kiss your money goodbye.

Posted by: Retired on July 7 2010 11:11 AM

Maybe Vander Zalm can get us 5235 signatures to stop this insane project?
Cheers

Posted by: gus on July 7 2010 11:40 AM

Convert our garbage into energy and heat the civic buildings with that, then we would have something worthwhile to discuss.

At one time wood residue from sawmills was burried in landfills. These days much of it is burned in cogen plants.

Why do we always have to stick money into primitive systems rather than advanced technology? We really are not innovative thinkers, are we?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/science/earth/13trash.html?_r=1

From that article:
"Denmark now has 29 such plants, serving 98 municipalities in a country of 5.5 million people, and 10 more are planned or under construction. Across Europe, there are about 400 plants, with Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands leading the pack in expanding them and building new ones."

We are about to build an antiquated system before we even get started, when we could be getting rid of our tipping fee problem at the same time.

Posted by: dudeinpg on July 7 2010 1:34 PM

Palopu: "The City has a choice on where to spend this money, ie; Water, Sewer, Garbage, Green Projects, Roads or Bridges."

I looked into this a while back because I had the question: Why isn't our fuel tax being put back into our roads? I found that every year, the federal government divies out fuel tax money to municipalities but with the stipulation that it gets used only for approved "Green Initiatives". This leaves out bad roads and potholes.

Posted by: supertech on July 7 2010 9:14 PM

Just another level of government telling us to 'pound sand'. This is the result of pipe dreams by someone on city council. Natural gas is not an expensive heating system and it is very efficient in comparison to burning.
" According to the City, the reduction in particulate is the equivalent of putting more than 5 thousand woodstoves a year out of commission."

A half truth for sure. Lakeland is going to burn more to heat a larger area. Doesn't matter what kind of wood burning you do, it still gives off fine particulate. I have been on the Lakeland tour about 5 times and the ashes left over from the burning is miniscule only because the rest is in the air.