A Cape Breton wind developer is upset about being shut out of Nova Scotia Power’s most recent call for renewable energy projects.
Luciano Lisi, president of Cape Breton Explorations Ltd., submitted a $10-million proposal to construct four wind turbines at two industrial parks in Cape Breton and sell the electricity to Nova Scotia Power.
However, Mr. Lisi’s proposal did not make the successful bidders list last week when Nova Scotia Power awarded six contracts for 18.95 megawatts of electricity to be supplied from small, community-based renewable energy projects.
"We believe the request for proposal (RFP) process is not only unfair, we believe Nova Scotia Power’s team is ill-equipped in assessing RFPs. There should be a third-party organization that assesses RFPs," said Mr. Lisi Wednesday.
Cape Breton Explorations of Sydney was proposing to install two wind turbines, generating two megawatts of electricity, at both the Northside Industrial Park in North Sydney and Harbourside Industrial Park in Sydney.
Mr. Lisi admits his proposed selling price — 12.5 cents per kilowatt — was higher than other projects, but his project offered other benefits, such as supporting local industrial parks that have been hurt by the downturn in the economy.
"The best value should be the guiding light for ratepayers, not the absolute lowest cost," he said.
Nova Scotia Power says Cape Breton Explorations’ proposal was one of 20 renewable energy projects submitted to the utility, totalling 40 megawatts of electricity.
"We were in a fortunate situation where we did have more projects . . . than we needed. We went through all the criteria equally for every project," said NSP spokeswoman Jennifer Parker.
"Once we selected the projects that met all the community requirements for local benefits, we applied the screen that said which ones have the most value for customers and that’s how we made our final decision."
She described the competitive process as a "fair process" and the criteria were applied equally to every project.
In addition to looking for the best price, the utility also examined the track record of the developer, the benefits to the community and support from the local community, she said.
Mr. Lisi, who has been awarded three renewable energy contracts with Nova Scotia Power in the past, also contends his latest project proposal was penalized because it is located in Cape Breton.
However, Ms. Parker said three of the six renewable projects selected are in Cape Breton and will generate 8.6 megawatts of the 18.95 megawatts requested.
These include the Scotian Windfields project in Isle Madame, Infinite Energy in Cape North and Black River Hydro at three sites in Cape Breton.
In the fall, Mr. Lisi complained to the provincial government about the process and wrote Energy Minister Bill Estabrooks, requesting he appoint an independent auditor to review the bidders list and how projects are chosen.
The minister said he could not take such action but indicated the government is developing a new renewable energy policy that is expected to be released this spring.
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