11 entities picked for energy studies

Eleven public, private and nonprofit entities in the north country will receive free preliminary feasibility studies on a switch to biomass heating.

"We hope it's an opportunity to better utilize all of our resources," said Joseph R. Lawrence, a member of the Drum Country Biomass Working Group, which helped to solicit area applicants for the studies.

The group — an ad-hoc coalition of economic development specialists, extension agents and technical assistance providers in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties — sees biomass heating as a way to both lower energy costs for businesses and other agencies and to provide a boost to the local timber industry, Mr. Lawrence said.

The 11 recipients were selected from a group of 26 applicants throughout the tri-county region.

"We wanted to make sure we had a diversity of facility types," said Samantha Dunn of Yellow Wood Associates Inc., the Vermont consulting firm that is conducting the studies.

The lone Jefferson County recipient is the Watertown Industrial Center Local Development Corp., for its Starbuck Avenue complex.

St. Lawrence County recipients include the Brasher Falls, Clifton-Fine, Colton-Pierrepont, Potsdam and Salmon River school districts, Clifton-Fine Hospital in Star Lake and United Helpers Cedars Nursing Home in Ogdensburg.

Lewis County recipients include the county for its Social Services and Public Safety buildings on outer Stowe Street in Lowville, the FiberMark plant in Lowville and the Burrows Paper plant in Lyonsdale.

"There is a strong emphasis in the north country to promote the use of our natural resources for residential and commercial heating purposes," Eric J. Virkler, director of the Lewis County Department of Economic Development and Planning, said in a release. "This analysis will provide information to determine if larger scale office and manufacturing facilities will benefit from wood biomass heat sources."

The studies — expected to cost $5,000 to $7,500 apiece — will evaluate fuel use and biomass energy opportunities, as well as project estimated costs against savings.

All will be funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service Wood Education and Resource Center and are to be completed by the end of September.

The studies — referred to as pre-feasibility — will provide only rough estimates for costs and potential savings, showing officials whether it makes sense to even consider biomass heating, Ms. Dunn said. Entities will likely need to undertake more detailed cost analyses before moving forward with any such projects, she said.

Officials from Yellow Wood and the Forest Service in June selected the top 15 applicants, based on a project ranking system, then visited those sites, Ms. Dunn said. Eleven of them were then chosen to be funded.

The selection process was intended to identify the organizations most likely to benefit from a switch to biomass heating and see the largest potential savings, Ms. Dunn said.

"We want to use the Forest Service dollars the best we can," she said.

School districts, which make up five of the 11 recipients, tended to rank favorably since many use fuel oil — rather than the typically less expensive natural gas — to heat their buildings, Ms. Dunn said.

Edwards-Knox Central School District, Russell, and Hartford Central School District, Washington County, began using wood-chip boiler systems last winter, and South Lewis Central School District, Turin, is in the process of installing one as part of its $18.7 million capital project.

While most of the studies will assess the feasibility of installing a fully automated wood-chip boiler system, the consultants will consider wood pellet boilers for smaller facilities, Ms. Dunn said.