Committee split on idea to nix biomass energy

The community advisory committee for Redwood Coast Energy Authority was split Tuesday night over RCEA's contract with Humboldt Sawmill Company. Emissions from this plant have prompted environmental activists to call on RCEA to cut their contract with HSC for months.

Advocates say the RCEA, which made commitments to reach 100% renewable and carbon free electricity by 2025, should divest from the plant as air quality violations continue.

“I'm here representing 18 organizations who have delegated to me the impossible task of telling you in eight minutes, how biomass emissions harm our planet and our health and how the system that's supposed to protect air quality has failed,” said Wendy Ring, leading the charge on the plant for months.

She said the health of the community in Scotia is at risk with the fine particles emitted from the plant. A bundle of public commenters expressed similar sentiments in person and over Zoom at the unusually packed meeting at the Jefferson Community Center in Eureka.

Environmental groups have noted violations with the air quality district from these emissions; Brian Wilson, North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District, said at the meeting the district has issued violations of the plant; including 13 Notices Of Violation of the Clean Air Act in 2023.

“We wouldn't have issued an (notice of violation) if they weren't serious. EPA has a high-priority violator schema that we follow. That's their scheme. We follow it. It's up to the RCEA folks to decide how you want to enforce your contract,” he said.

Dean Kerstetter, executive vice president of operations for the Humboldt Sawmill Co. said there were earthquake-related damages at the plant.

“We got some NOVs again in early '23 and we're still working through that process with the district right now,” he said, adding the company spent a lot of money getting the plant back operating within its permit limits.

The 15-person committee, with one absent, tried out two motions that would have advised the RCEA's board to eventually cut ties with the plant, which provides about 20% of RCEA's electric portfolio for its Community Choice Energy program. But both got split votes and were turned down. Eventually, the committee agreed that a staff report on the four-hour discussion would express concerns to the board.

Committee members noted at the meeting that RCEA doesn't have other local options for renewable energy. “We've got five to 10 years before offshore wind comes on board, before our other energies are available. And we can't make up that difference just by doing rooftop solar and batteries,” said Larry Goldberg.

Some at the meeting also said that RCEA's process is helping keep the plant in check. Goldberg said the plant wouldn't be decommissioned if the contract was cut and the power would be sold instead to PG& E, so the contract allows for more public input in how it's run.

But others pushed back on the idea.

“I'm not convinced that by being under contract with them we're having significantly more influence over how they operate. And I think we have a chance to speak with our dollars about where we want to see our future move towards,” said Jerome Qiriazi.

Cutting ties with the contract, which expires in 2031, would be pricey for the authority.

Matthew Marshall, executive director of RCEA estimated at the meeting the cost increase to RCEA if the contract was abolished would be about $50 million until 2031. This includes a roughly $20 million penalty from the state and the paying for another power source during the evenings and night, something every other power procurement agency in California wants.

Committee members also questioned whether RCEA should be procuring energy from a plant that produces CO2. Colin Fiske said he was concerned that RCEA doesn't utilize the opportunity to hold suppliers to high environmental standards. He said this sends a bad message, and said the number of violations seem to be a pattern.

312,559 metric tons from the plant were reported to the California Air Resources Board in 2022, though Kerstetter said carbon emission calculations are missing the power that it's used internally as well as the steam.

SCREENSHOT The opinions of committee members were split almost evenly when motions were considered to advise RCEA's board to end their contract with the biomass plant. They eventually decided to do a staff report on what was discussed at the four hour meeting at Jefferson Community Center. The cat shown was regularly petted at the meeting.