BUCKSPORT – In an effort to counter rising energy costs, the town of Bucksport is set to look at ways to produce and distribute its own lower-cost power using wind, natural gas, tidal power or a combination of those sources.

“At some point, we need to take a leadership role and see what services our citizens need and what will benefit them,” said Town Manager Roger Raymond. “The goal is to create cheaper energy costs for our citizens and businesses and for our public facilities.”

Town councilors recently created an energy committee that will investigate alternative sources of electrical power and ways to manage it. The committee initially will focus on wind power. The town already has received two independent proposals for erecting wind turbines in town and the committee will work with a consultant to determine whether either plan or both are feasible.

But there are alternatives that could make use of assets the town has, Raymond said, including access to natural gas, an industry in town that already produces power, existing high-tension transmission lines, and opportunities for tidal power.

A natural gas pipeline spur already runs from the main line in Orrington to the Verso Paper mill in town. It might be possible for the town to tap into that line and to construct its own turbine, Raymond said. Other possibilities include purchasing low-pressure steam from the mill to run a turbine or purchasing power generated by the mill’s gas turbine.

While those are possibilities, Raymond stressed that the town is in the early stages of investigating alternative power sources and has not discussed any of those ideas with mill officials or with Bucksport Energy, which is the majority owner of the gas turbine and markets the power produced there.

“We haven’t discussed any of this with them yet, but we will,” he said. “We plan to pursue this aggressively to determine which alternatives are feasible. We need to see if it is viable for us to do these things to help the businesses and citizens in town. We have an obligation to do that.”

Tidal power is a longer-term alternative and the town will need to see what happens with state research and development efforts, Raymond said. It is a relatively new technology in the state, but he said the town would monitor closely efforts now under way.

“We’ll look at the R&D and see if tidal power is viable here in Bucksport,” he said.

While natural gas and tidal power may take time to develop, the town could be generating electricity from the wind by the end of the year. The town’s energy committee will review two styles of wind generators, one large one and one smaller model. Initial studies indicate that both are feasible for the town, which already has identified potential sites for the windmills: the treatment plant, town garage and transfer station for the smaller, 33-foot model, and town-owned property near the new middle school for the larger, 120-foot model.

“We have the resources to do both projects,” Raymond said. “If it’s feasible, we can do it this year. I’d like to be prepared to utilize the winds we normally get in the fall.”

The town also will study issues related to power, such as creating a co-op to deal with electric power issues or even developing a municipal electric district, as some other towns have done.

“We considered it several years ago, but it wasn’t feasible with the standard offer at 4 cents per kilowatt-hour,” Raymond said. “As that goes up, it may become feasible.”

The standard offer is now around 9 cents a kilowatt-hour, and that rate is expected to increase when the town negotiates a new contract later this year, he said.

Although the process for establishing a municipal district is complex, Raymond said the town is prepared to work through that if it means developing a source of electricity that is less expensive.

Developing local power not only could reduce costs for residents and existing business, Raymond said, it also could be an economic development tool, creating new jobs and giving the town an advantage in attracting new businesses to Bucksport.

“Access to cheaper power can have a significant impact on a company’s decision to come to an area or not,” he said.

rhewitt@bangordailynews.net

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