As Published in Seven Days, October 18, 2023 : Studied to Death The "simmering" subtitle of " Pipe Dream? " [September 27] suggests that the Burlington Electric Department has been working on its scheme to build a steam pipe to the hospital for a long time. Coming just three years after Corix's quite different proposal failed, this Burlington Electric/Vermont Gas Systems/Ever-Green Energy effort should meet the same fate as other attempts to cobble together a thermal project based on the McNeil Generating Station. Prior to the current proposal, there were at least 14 studies related to thermal project proposals for the McNeil site, ranging from greenhouses to steam transmission lines to various district energy system configurations, all of which led to "no go." I know because, with Dermot McGuigan, I wrote one of those reports, the 1992 proposal for a low-temperature, citywide district energy system — the right project at the right time. But the time f...

The proposed steam transmission line between the McNeil Generating Station and the University of Vermont Medical Center (an organization and facility that is distinct from the University) is a train wreck of a project. We could anticipate its 2023 crash from way back in 1984, or 1994, or 2004, or 2014. It may not even be necessary to know or understand the three essential elements of a good district system to judge the proposed steam pipe project. Consider the long history of studies and reports, all of which have resulted in "No Go" outcomes. And then add the fact that Burlington Electric Department, the operator of McNeil on behalf of 9 other Vermont utilities, has lost track of most of those studies. That kind of knowledge management does not inspire confidence. BED is only able to find 4 of 14 historical thermal project studies related to McNeil. There should be several more studies published since 2018, as BED has been spending money liberally in support of the project -...