by David Flint
Beacon Power’s frequency regulation plant in Stephentown has been included on a White House list of 100 Recovery Act Projects that are Changing America. Releasing the report, Vice President Joe Biden said, “With [American Reinvestment and] Recovery Act projects like these, we’re starting to turn the page on a decade of failed economic policies and rebuild our economy on a new foundation that creates good middle class jobs for American families, and we’re not engineering this transformation alone – Recovery Act projects are drawing billions in private capital off the sidelines to help recharge our economy.”
The plant still under construction on Grange Hall Road is #85 on Biden’s list. The report noted that the Department of Energy had finalized a $43 million loan guarantee for the “20 megawatt innovative flywheel energy storage plant in Stephentown, New York. The plant will help improve the stability and reliability of the state’s electric grid… Beacon estimates [the plant] will reduce carbon dioxide emissions up to 82 percent over its 20 year life compared to a coal, gas or pumped hydro plant. The flywheel plant also does not emit air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide or sulfur dioxide.”
Beacon Power CEO Bill Capp reported in a Third Quarter Earnings conference call on November 9 that the Stephentown plant is on track to start earning revenue by providing to the grid four megawatts of frequency regulation power before the end of the year. Progress continues on installing flywheels, electronics and support systems, interconnection hardware, foundations and plant infrastructure.
The goal of having the entire 20 megawatts on line by the end of the first quarter of 2011 will not be met due to some supplier problems that occurred, according to Capp. Instead, they now expect to have 80% of the plant or 16 megawatts hooked up to the nearby transmission lines by the end of March or at the end of the second quarter at the latest. Capp noted that the company signed in September an interconnection agreement with the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) and NYSEG giving the go-ahead to connect the plant to the grid. He added that more than 40% of the flywheels have now been shipped, installed and are being tested and that Beacon is working closely with NYSEG to complete the necessary upgrades to their substation.
Revenue from the Stephentown plant will be sorely needed as the company reported third quarter revenues of only $124,000 and a net loss of $5.5 million. Capp reported that all the necessary funding is in place to complete the Stephentown plant. But cash will be needed to build additional plants planned for Chicago and Pennsylvania. The company’s stock as of Wednesday was trading at only 23 cents and risks being delisted from the NASDAQ. Capp was optimistic that the fundamentals of the business will change dramatically over the coming months and that the current valuation of the stock does not reflect that. Revenue from Stephentown and changes in the way frequency regulation is paid for – with utilities paying for performance rather than for capacity – Capp believes will significantly increase revenues going forward.
Many disagree with Vice President Biden’s rosy picture of the success of the federal stimulus plan and possibly a majority of the American public view the $800 billion package as wasteful at best. The number of jobs created per dollar spent has undoubtedly been short of what was hoped for.
However, a recent series in The Record newspaper, aimed at giving an overview as well as individual stories on the impact of the stimulus on communities in their coverage area, gave basically a positive picture of the experiences and perceptions that people have of the stimulus package – not a cure-all, but it has helped. Schools were basically thankful for the aid that bailed them out for the short term, but they worried about what happens after the funds dry up. Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino was grateful for the more than $12 million received or expected to be received to help pay Medicaid costs and for several other projects in the County. But Jimino thought the Medicaid assistance was not enough and conversely commented that “We don’t need more government; we need more investment in the private sector. We need to support private sector business so they can create jobs.” Despite reservations like these, there were many anecdotal reports from around the area of businesses kept from going under and jobs saved.
