Thursday, August 12, 2004
Utilities hinder cow power plans, dairy owners tell lawmakers
August 12, 2004
By VIC POLLARD, Californian Sacramento Bureau
e-mail: vpollard@bakersfield.com
SACRAMENTO -- A single dairy cow can power two 100-watt light bulbs, but Pacific Gas and Electric Co. doesn't want the competition, lawmakers were told Wednesday.
Dairy owners said resistance from PG&E and other utilities is largely to blame for the fact that less than a dozen California dairies have begun converting their manure into electricity in recent years.
Attorneys for the utilities insisted the blame is misplaced.
"We want to make the program work," said the utility's senior environmental attorney, John Busterud.
The exchange came at a hearing called by state Sen. Dean Florez on ways to reduce air pollution in the Central Valley by speeding up the use of small generating systems on the rapidly growing number of dairies.
Clean air regulators say methane, ammonia and other gases produced by dairy waste contribute to air pollution, although they are not sure exactly how much.
Methane also is a greenhouse gas that contributes to the deterioration of the earth's protective ozone layer, scientists say.
Dairies can capture the smelly methane and other gases produced by decaying manure and urine and use it to run an internal combustion engine that generates electricity.
Experts at the hearing said cows produce enough "biogas" daily, to generate 200 watts of electricity. A herd of 1,000 can often produce more than enough energy to run the dairy.
Environmentalists and government officials have tried for years to promote the use of biogas conversion for both energy and air quality reasons.
Three years ago, the state provided $10 million to help install the systems on dairies, but nearly a third of the money went unused, one dairy industry official testified. The systems can cost anywhere from $300,000 to more than $4 million, a Senate air quality committee was told.
But less than a dozen have been installed, although a number of others are on the verge of completion, witnesses said.
Witnesses said laws and regulations are needed to streamline the program.
But Mark Moser, whose firm RCM Digesters installs the systems, said, "The single largest barrier in the state currently is the utilities."
He and other witnesses said PG&E regularly takes months to respond to requests to inspect and hook up the systems to its distribution system and imposes arbitrary restrictions and fees.
"They don't really support other people in the business," Moser said. "It's their party and they don't want anyone else to participate."
That's not true, said PG&E's Busterud. He said taking electricity from dairies and the rapidly growing number of other small generation systems does not hurt the utility.
"We are held economically harmless," he said.
After the hearing, PG&E public relations officials called reporters, saying there's another reason for delays in hooking up dairies that was overlooked in the hearing.
Spokeswoman Jann Taber said crews are overwhelmed with a recent explosion in private generating systems using wind, solar and other forms of energy.
"We get about 300 of them a month," she said. "The same crews have to do all of those."
By VIC POLLARD, Californian Sacramento Bureau
e-mail: vpollard@bakersfield.com
SACRAMENTO -- A single dairy cow can power two 100-watt light bulbs, but Pacific Gas and Electric Co. doesn't want the competition, lawmakers were told Wednesday.
Dairy owners said resistance from PG&E and other utilities is largely to blame for the fact that less than a dozen California dairies have begun converting their manure into electricity in recent years.
Attorneys for the utilities insisted the blame is misplaced.
"We want to make the program work," said the utility's senior environmental attorney, John Busterud.
The exchange came at a hearing called by state Sen. Dean Florez on ways to reduce air pollution in the Central Valley by speeding up the use of small generating systems on the rapidly growing number of dairies.
Clean air regulators say methane, ammonia and other gases produced by dairy waste contribute to air pollution, although they are not sure exactly how much.
Methane also is a greenhouse gas that contributes to the deterioration of the earth's protective ozone layer, scientists say.
Dairies can capture the smelly methane and other gases produced by decaying manure and urine and use it to run an internal combustion engine that generates electricity.
Experts at the hearing said cows produce enough "biogas" daily, to generate 200 watts of electricity. A herd of 1,000 can often produce more than enough energy to run the dairy.
Environmentalists and government officials have tried for years to promote the use of biogas conversion for both energy and air quality reasons.
Three years ago, the state provided $10 million to help install the systems on dairies, but nearly a third of the money went unused, one dairy industry official testified. The systems can cost anywhere from $300,000 to more than $4 million, a Senate air quality committee was told.
But less than a dozen have been installed, although a number of others are on the verge of completion, witnesses said.
Witnesses said laws and regulations are needed to streamline the program.
But Mark Moser, whose firm RCM Digesters installs the systems, said, "The single largest barrier in the state currently is the utilities."
He and other witnesses said PG&E regularly takes months to respond to requests to inspect and hook up the systems to its distribution system and imposes arbitrary restrictions and fees.
"They don't really support other people in the business," Moser said. "It's their party and they don't want anyone else to participate."
That's not true, said PG&E's Busterud. He said taking electricity from dairies and the rapidly growing number of other small generation systems does not hurt the utility.
"We are held economically harmless," he said.
After the hearing, PG&E public relations officials called reporters, saying there's another reason for delays in hooking up dairies that was overlooked in the hearing.
Spokeswoman Jann Taber said crews are overwhelmed with a recent explosion in private generating systems using wind, solar and other forms of energy.
"We get about 300 of them a month," she said. "The same crews have to do all of those."
# posted by Senator Dean Florez @ 12:42 PM 
