Town officials praise biomass plan

Winstanley Enterprises' proposal to build a state-of-the-art $150 million biomass generating station was met with praise and enthusiasm Monday as a boon to the local economy and the state's power portfolio.


Town officials praise biomass plan

By Susan Smallheer STAFF WRITER - Rutland Herald

NORTH SPRINGFIELD — Winstanley Enterprises' proposal to build a state-of-the-art $150 million biomass generating station was met with praise and enthusiasm Monday as a boon to the local economy and the state's power portfolio.

The 25-megawatt plant, which would be only the third wood-fired facility in the state, would use wood chips from waste wood left over from lumber operations or even tree trimming along power lines, Adam Winstanley said.

Winstanley Enterprises has built a solid record in its 20 years in the state, which started when it built a building for Country Kitchen, a commercial baker at the Exit One industrial park in Brattleboro.

But the Concord, Mass., company has raised its profile with its two most recent projects in southeastern Vermont, the refurbishment of the old Fellows Corp. building in North Springfield and the conversion of Northeast Cooperatives new natural foods warehouse into other uses. Both buildings are all but fully utilized, the company said.

Town Manager Robert Forguites, who was at the press conference where the project was announced, praised Winstanley and its track record in Springfield and Vermont.

"In the three years they've been in Springfield, they have done everything they said they were going to do," said Forguites. "Certainly it's a positive, to invest that kind of money in Springfield."

Bob Flint, executive director of the Springfield Regional Development Corp., said he was excited about the project and what it could mean to the future of economic development in Springfield and at the industrial park in particular.

"Winstanley is nothing if not meticulous and thorough," said Flint, praising the quality of the team Winstanley has assembled to work on the project.

"I think it's an exciting project. Here's a company that already made a sizeable commitment to Springfield, a successful company," said Flint.

"There's all sorts of potential for this kind of facility," he said.

U.S. Congressman Peter Welch, D-Vt., who held a climate change roundtable earlier in the day in Burlington, praised Winstanley's initiative.

"Wood biomass projects have the potential to create good jobs in Vermont while reducing the state's carbon footprint and making use of a local, renewable resource. I'm optimistic that, with proper community support, projects such as this can provide an important economic boost to Springfield and further diversify Vermont's energy portfolio."

The company said it is already working to address a major potential issue – the increase of truck traffic in North Springfield.

Thomas Kennedy, executive director of the Southern Windsor Regional Planning Commission, said a study of truck traffic had been concluded last year and potential solution identified, including a realignment of the access to the industrial park off Route 10.

Despite the abundance of natural wood resources, there are currently only two wood-burning power plants in Vermont — the McNeil plant owned by the Burlington Electric Co., and the 20-megawatt Ryegate Power Station, owned by Texas firm Suez Energy North America. .

Published in the Rutland Herald, February 10, 2009 but replaced that same day with a different article and headline then given the same web address: http://rutlandherald.com/article/20090210/NEWS02/902100375