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05.17.06
Braintree Town Meeting Members approve power plant
On May 10 Braintree Town Meeting overwhelmingly endorsed the construction of a new power plant by Braintree Electric Light Department (BELD).
The 100-megawatt plant will be built at BELD’s headquarters on Potter Road and is scheduled to go online in 2009. According to BELD General Manager Bill Bottiggi, the new facility will keep Braintree residents’ electric bills affordable.
“If you don’t build (the new plant), you’re going to have to pay someone else for (your electricity),” Bottiggi said at Town Meeting. “I’d rather build one than have to pay someone else who will then profit.”
The new power plant was approved with only one opposing vote, after which the Town Meeting Members broke out into applause. With Town Meeting approval in hand, BELD staff will now begin the lengthy permitting process and start tearing down the department’s mothballed Potter 1 plant to make room for the new simple-cycle facility. The plant will be powered by a combination of oil and natural gas.
BELD began exploring the construction of a new plant two years ago based on projections that New England’s demand for electricity would soon be larger than the amount that’s produced, possibly resulting in brownouts starting in 2007. In additional, regional power regulators looking to advance power plant production are expected to begin offering cash incentives to the few utilities constructing new facilities. Bottiggi expects more than half of the power plant’s $95 million cost to be offset by these incentives.
BELD will pay about 30 percent of the construction costs for the new plant. Other area municipal light departments buying power from the new plant under a joint ownership arrangement will provide the balance. BELD will retain sole authority over the operation of the plant.
Built in the mid-1970s, BELD’s Potter II plant is inefficient and only operates during periods of high demand, Bottiggi said. In contrast, he expects the new plant to reduce monthly bills by as much as $8 once online.
For nearly 115 years, BELD has been a nonprofit public power utility owned and operated by the citizens of Braintree. BELD Broadband has offered high-speed Internet service since 1998 and cable television service since 2000.
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