by Andrew Stein vtdigger.org Vermont Gas Systems CEO Don Gilbert is as confident as ever about the prospects of state approval for the company’s 42-mile natural gas pipeline in Addison County, despite a long week of back-and-forth before the Public Service Board.
Gilbert has his eyes fixed a decade down the road on a natural gas system that is much larger than the current VTGas pipe network. His company’s proposed 43-mile natural gas pipeline into the heart of Addison County has drawn vocal opposition from a range of Vermonters, with protesters gathering outside Montpelier’s Capitol Plaza for part of the week.
But Gilbert has the backing of Governor Peter Shumlin, and the CEO is optimistic the pipeline application will go through.
Don Gilbert, CEO of Vermont Gas Systems, testifies before the Public Service Board at a technical hearing at Capitol Plaza in Montpelier on Monday. Photo by Andrew Stein/VTDigger
‘Even if you were to dispute the $200 million in savings or the 300,000 tons in greenhouse gas emissions it will reduce, there’s still so much room where even if we’re wrong there’s still a significant benefit,’ Gilbert said in an interview. ‘I continue to get people coming up to me, saying ‘What is the problem with these people?’ People want the service.’
The people who want the service have been drowned out in the public sphere by a very vocal opposition that came to a raucous head in Middlebury last week . The opposition centers on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which is banned in Vermont for environmental reasons. Much of the gas VTGas pipes in from Alberta is from fracking.
The greenhouse gas effects of the proposed project have been debated extensively, with two main analyses based on different numbers, calculations and assumptions concluding very different outcomes. The Vermont Fuel Dealers’ Association has also questioned the economics of the project. The group says energy prices are volatile and low natural gas prices won’t necessarily hold in the near future.
To which Gilbert says, ‘It’s inconceivable â ¦ Vermont Yankee decided to close down, and one of the main arguments they made for closing was the price of natural gas. They wouldn’t have done that if they thought natural gas prices were going to come up and not be competitive.’
Gilbert says people should be given a choice.
‘People don’t have to use this,’ he said. ‘This is to offer Vermonters a choice. It’s not mandated that Vermonters utilize the fuel. If we bring a product in and people don’t want it, then that’s our risk.’
But it’s not just about Vermonters.
THE LONGER VISION AND THE TIMETABLE
Phase two of the company’s extension is a proposed pipeline under Lake Champlain to fuel the International Paper plant in Ticonderoga, NY. The plant would fund a major portion of the company’s expansion.
Gilbert hopes to have approval for phase one of the project by the end of the year, and his team is planning to submit its application for phase two by November 15. He hopes the Public Service Board will approve a permit for that second phase in 2014.
Phase three of the company’s southern expansion is to Rutland.
‘We would like to be serving Rutland by 2020,’ he said. ‘We’d like to serve communities like Bristol and others by 2016.’
If the International Paper route doesn’t win state approval, though, Gilbert said it would slow down the company’s plans.
‘It would take us 25 years to get to Rutland if not for International Paper.’
The Public Service Board told parties Friday that all reply briefs are due by October 25. After that, the board will make a decision at an undetermined date.
VELCO’S CONCERNS
VELCO is the state’s electric transmission utility, responsible for maintaining Vermont’s power grid.
The bulk of the proposed pipeline into Addison County travels along a 20-plus mile right of way that belongs to VELCO for a major transmission line.
Tom Dunn, VELCO’s chief operating officer, was the final person to testify Friday. He told the board he was concerned about the VTGas pipeline, but he said in an interview after that he and his colleagues are OK with VTGas’ plan as it was submitted to the board.
One of his main concerns is that the pipeline might interfere with VELCO’s ability to construct a second transmission line in that corridor ‘ a possibility that he says could become a reality within the next 20 years.
‘The biggest thing right now is looking at the likelihood of bringing in additional renewable power from Hydro Quebec and New York,’ he said. ‘Vermont’s position at a crossroads between those two jurisdictions makes it a very logical place to look if you want to bring in additional hydropower or other renewables.’
Dunn is also concerned with rerouting part of the pipeline along Rotax Road in Monkton. It is currently set to run through the 70-acre property of Nate and Jane Palmer. The Palmers were the only citizen party present at the hearings, though there are eight citizen parties in the case. The Palmers staunchly oppose the pipeline.
Dunn said that going around the Palmers’ property would make it difficult for the utility to build a second transmission line.
‘If we have to build a second line, the concerns I would have particularly are in terms of setting the structures and the excavation,’ he told the board. ‘I think it would be fairly close to the gas pipeline. We would have heavy equipment in that area.’
Dunn said that there might also be temporary power outages associated with the construction of a VTGas pipeline.
He told the board that VTGas has been cooperative, but he asked for the board to apply several conditions if they permit the project. VELCO wants VTGas to include VELCO when configuring the pipeline and transmission line arrangement in the VELCO corridor, and VELCO wants VTGas to pick up the tab for construction costs associated with the line.
‘I would ask that the board condition approval on Vermont Gas agreeing to pay VELCO’s incremental cost of having to use special construction techniques or moving from a wood-angled structure to a self-supporting steal structure,’ he said about the poles used to support power lines. ‘Those costs should be paid for by Vermont Gas.’
After the towns of Hinesburg and Monkton formally opposed the initial route of the pipeline, VTGas rerouted it to fall more in line with the VELCO corridor.