March 6, 2009

Green city
Northern Wasco PUD, city of The Dalles explore renewable energy

By KATHY GRAY
of The Chronicle

     The Dalles water and sewer systems may offer the means to produce renewable energy under a collaborative effort between Northern Wasco County PUD and the City of The Dalles.
     One project the two organizations are exploring is a way to generate electricity from surplus methane generated by the digester at the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
     The city uses some of the methane given off by sewage to fuel the plant’s processes. The rest is currently burned off as surplus, but could potentially be used to generate electricity instead, said Dwight Langer, PUD general manager.
     “[The city] is perfectly willing to be the host of the project,” Langer said. “They have the same attitude we do: If this project benefits the community, they’re all for it.”
     He said the project could benefit the community in more ways than just renewable energy. He said revenues from the electricity, which people are willing to pay a premium for, might conceivably go back into some community project.
“I think we can really come up with a neat model,” Langer said. “People can see where the money is going from the renewable project.”
     The PUD and the city shared the cost of a study on the project and is presently having the study vetted by a second party.
     A second study is looking into the prospect of developing a micro hydropower project on the city’s Highline water transmission line. The aging water line links Wicks Water Treatment Plant down Mill Creek to the city.
     “The water line project is really exciting, with the potential to replace that aging water line with a new one,” said City Manager Nolan Young. “Minihydro has some real potential for us to add some of our needs when it comes to infrastructure.”
     The primary goal of both projects, Young noted, is to not only benefit the community, but also to aid the PUD in reaching its goals and objectives relating to state renewable energy requirements.
     “If there is a resource within the community they can use to do that, and we control that asset, by all means, we want to make it available,” Young said.
     Another important factor from the city’s perspective is keeping power rates low, “which also helps with economic viability,” Young said.
     No specific timeline has been developed for the two projects, which are in their formative stages. Ultimately, the two city and PUD could establish an intergovernmental agreement to develop the projects.