There is a proposal being pushed by Burlington Electric Department (BED) to connect a steam transmission line between the J.C. McNeil Generating Station and the hospital. It's not good. Indeed, it's an idea that should have been stopped early at an internal BED meeting after about 10 minutes of discussion. In 1992, Dermot McGuigan and I developed a project proposal to serve Burlington with low-temperature district heat that would have taken heat from the cooling water at the McNeil Generating Station. It was a project for its time and the future, which is now here.  In 2023, district energy system supply temperatures in new systems are so low that uninsulated pipes can be used. (Lund, et.al., 2014,  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2014.02.089 ) created a widely reproduced graphic that illustrates the long-running temperature trend in district energy systems (also called district heating and cooling). The notion of using steam in a new system today is unfathomable. (Lund, et.a...

 My public comments ( PDF ) entered in Case No. 23-1870-PET : July 3, 2023  Vermont Public Utility Commission  Case No. 23-1870-PET  Dear Commissioners,  Thank you for the opportunity to comment on Case No. [ 2 ]23-1870-PET, as requested by the Commission’s Procedural Order of June 9, 2023.  Some time ago, I participated in the Public Service Board’s Docket #5611, an investigation into environmental externalities. There is one memory that I would like to share with you:  The investigation lasted many months and involve[d] utilities, environmental groups, and of course, the Department of Public Service (PSD, then DPS). Beginning in September 1992, Docket #5611 was a series of workshops on the general problem of environmental externalities and included greenhouse gas regulation. It was a thorough investigation using the best available information from the best universities and think tanks. I’ve lost track of the number of day-long meetings we had. It was...