Published 07/03/2006
Johnson, Vt. – Vermont Electric Cooperative, Inc. announced today that a ribbon cutting ceremony will be held on Thursday, July 13^th at 11:30 a.m., at the Beecher Falls Division of Ethan Allen Operations, Inc. (EA), to celebrate the commencement of work on a cogeneration unit that will help EA to reduce their energy costs.

 Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) has been working with EA to reduce the energy costs associated with their production of furniture. ”VEC began research on energy solutions at the Beecher Falls manufacturing facility in 2004 with a goal to reduce the overall cost of energy, said Dave Hallquist, CEO of VEC. “After performing an extensive feasibility study, VEC recommended the installation of a steam turbine designed by TurboSteam Corporation of Turner Falls, Massachusetts.”  

The turbine is designed to take advantage of the free energy available from the pressure reduction of the steam used in the manufacturing of the furniture. It is considered “free energy” because the steam is generated from the waste wood from manufacturing the furniture. 

“This cogeneration project is considered a positive benefit for all of our members”, said Hallquist. “The project allows VEC to purchase electricity generated from the turbine below market price and at the same time allows Ethan Allen to lower their energy bill for the Beecher Falls facility by utilizing the heat generated from the turbine and a revenue stream in the form of a “host credit”. 

The State of New Hampshire and the State of Vermont worked closely with VEC to help fund the project by contributing $425K each through a grant program that enables VEC to lease the turbine.  The Northern Community Investment Corporation of St. Johnsbury, Vermont provided financial consultation and grant writing support throughout the process.  The State of Vermont Office of Economic Development was a member of the analysis team, as well as the key liaison to Ethan Allen. 

The process of using commercial and industrial heat for electric generation is known as cogeneration. Cogeneration is common in the automotive, paper and pulp industry, and VEC is now looking at this form of distributed generation at a number of locations on its system.  Today, most generation is centralized, with large generators producing electricity that travels hundreds of miles before reaching the end user.  Typically less than 30% of the energy available in the original fuel actually gets to the end user and the remainder is waste heat dissipated through cooling towers.  By placing the generator at a site where the heat can be used for industrial processes, as well as local heating and/or cooling, the efficiencies can be raised to as high as 80%.  These efficiency improvements will help reduce the use of fossil fuels, as well as the resulting greenhouse gas emissions.