By KELLY LOUISEIZE
Boniferro Mill Works Inc. is sourcing alternative energy streams to deal with “outrageous distribution fee(s).”
The company “pays an outrageous distribution fee every month,” says Gary Wegener, Boniferro Mill Works CFO.
With the high energy costs and the Canadian dollar dropping, the company needed to source new forms of generation for their 1,600-kilowatt hardwood operations.
So, they are examining natural gas or diesel generation as primary sources and possibly wind and solar to augment secondary operations like security and lighting.
The company could use one generator or two to meet the 1,600-Kw demand. Each would be almost maintenance free.
A heat exchanger on the electricity generator exhaust will help reduce heating costs by approximately 50 per cent.
On average, the mill spends $75,000 to $80,000 a month on gas and electricity. The plant produces more than 17 million board ft annually. They would like to cut energy spending by one-third.
Les Graham, proprietor of Graham Page & Associates, says they will be able to reduce their energy load by more than that.
But a portion of the energy may still need to come from Great Lakes Power (GLP), so officials are attempting to negotiate their power rates. But, no one has replied back.
“They are not alive at this moment,” Graham says.
“I don’t know what will happen when (they) wake up.”
Shelley Moorhead, GLP’s director of corporate communications says it is a bit complicated.
All negotiations have to go to the Ontario Energy Board before adjustments can be made, which is where BMW is sitting now. If a user obtains approval for rate reduction then it means other user’s rates increase.
In the meantime, BMW is carrying on with the energy report. The Forest Sector Prosperity Fund taken from the Ministry of Natural Resources forest aid package will provide $150 million over three years to help companies improve fibre efficiencies, energy conservation and co generation. Wegener will submit an application to obtain a portion of that funding.
The generators will probably be installed by a contractor, but the in-house crew will maintain them. Within the next six months, the company expects to have a clearer direction on where their energy will come from in the future.
The transition will cost approximately $1.2 million, allowing the company to recoup their investment within four months.
“It has a very quick pay back,” Wegener says.
