School district explores biomass heating

The Sisters School District has taken the first tentative steps along a path that could place Sisters at the forefront of alternative energy innovation in Oregon.

The school board agreed unanimously Wednesday night to further explore a proposal to site a wood pellet-fueled boiler at Sisters High School. The use of the biomass boiler could significantly cut heating costs at the high school, according to proponents. The district currently budgets $90,000 for heating fuel at Sisters High School and spent $60,772 last year.

The district must carry a heavy budget reserve because of the volatility of the liquid-fuel market, and district facilities manager Leland Bliss tries to time the market to catch the best prices on diesel and propane.

"I try really hard to buy on a down trend," he said.

Local engineering firm ENERGYneering Solutions Inc. (ESI) (see related story, page 5) presented the concept for the biomass project, which has the enthusiastic endorsement of the district's facilities committee, made up of staff, board members and members of the Sisters community - many of them with years of construction experience.

As the project is proposed, there would be no cash outlay for the school district to complete the approximately $300,000 project. ESI would secure financing though a variety of grants and/or private investment, and the district would pay ESI a heating bill as an "energy services provider" - basically the same way a homeowner would pay a utility bill.

The biomass boiler would not replace the two existing area-heating diesel-fueled boilers and propane hot water heaters at the school.

The new biomass system would preheat the supply water to the existing diesel and propane systems so that, under normal conditions, the existing systems would remain off, or provide makeup heat such as during an extreme cold snap.

"We still have the diesel and propane as backup," facilities manager Leland Bliss told the board Wednesday night. "If anything goes wrong, we can always go back to diesel."

Harney County Hospital has installed a biomass boiler, which has become a showpiece for alternative energy in Central and Eastern Oregon. Benny Benson of ESI told the board that the unit at the hospital is extremely quiet and has no visible emission. 

While other northwestern states have moved ahead on biomass, Oregon seems to be lagging behind.

School board member Cheryl Stewart asked about precedents for use of biomass boilers. Benson noted,  "Montana has about 30 of these; Idaho and Washington are probably close to the same number. For some reason, Oregon has been slow in acceptance..."

For their part, the school board indicated that they were comfortable with the technology model presented by ESI, but they want more information about the financial model. At least one workshop is being scheduled this month to provide board members with detailed information and an opportunity to ask more questions about the project.

Under the proposed model, the school district would pay down the installation through an energy savings performance contract for heat supplied, instead of paying for heat through the purchase of diesel fuel as it does now.

There are a number of contractural methods proposed, from fixed pricing based on historical fuel cost averaging, to guaranteed shared savings based on current fuel spot market pricing.

Either way, wood pellet fuel will provide a more efficient heating system, saving the district money that could be applied to early payoff of the equipment or allocated in part to other needs.

ESI estimates conservatively a 10-year payoff on equipment that will last 20-30 years, giving the district significant savings down the road.

"I expect savings of at least $25,000 a year after the equipment is ours," Bliss told The Nugget.

Benson's proposal concept grew out of his participation in the public sessions on school budget-cutting last spring. He realized that his expertise offered an opportunity for the district to save money while potentially tapping a local resource and providing unique education opportunities for students in hands-on understanding of engineering, economics, and the potential use of local resources for power and heat generation.

"Thinking about helping the schools, watching slash piles burn in our backyard, that's what drove us toward seeing what we could do," he said.

Benson is proposing a pellet-burning boiler rather than a chip-burner, which makes the use of wood from local forest projects less direct. Pellet systems burn more efficiently and require less maintenance, advantages that Benson thinks are important in what he says will inevitably be a "proof-of-concept" project.

However, there is a potential for more direct use of local forest products in the future.

"That's the ultimate goal - to have a local fuel source and not have it burning in the forest," he told The Nugget. "But that needs to happen in steps."

The district will continue to explore the project before seeking a final contract proposal. If the project moves forward as proponents hope, work could be completed this summer.

"The intent was to have it operational by July," Benson said.