McNeil Generating Station has provided economic and employment benefits to Vermont since 1984. It has contributed over $274 million to the state economy through payroll, taxes, and contracts with local businesses. It employees over 130 people total and supports jobs in forest management, harvesting, processing, and transportation. The plant also benefits the environment by providing an outlet to dispose of over 5,000 tons of waste wood annually from local residents and businesses. It has provided reliable power to Burlington, keeping the lights on during blackouts. New technologies are allowing the plant to operate more efficiently and use different fuel sources.

1. McNeil Generating Station Slow Living Conference June 3, 2011 John M. Irving, P.E. Burlington Electric Department

7. Economic Benefits Since startup in 1984, McNeil Station has contributed the following to Vermont through August 2010: Payroll $ 52,540,000 Property Taxes $ 24,880,000 Sales Taxes $ 930,000 Rail Transportation $ 34,420,000 Local Contractors $ 6,489,000 Wood Fuel Purchases $ 155,092,000 Total $ 274,351,000 This does not include the $67,000,000 to build the McNeil Station much of which was spent locally McNeil has provided 5,079,359 MWH of power since construction. The majority of this power would have been produced from fossil fuels. This energy would require 400 million gallons of fuel oil to produce

8. Employment Benefits Powerplant Jobs 36 Home Office Support Jobs 4 Forest Management Jobs 4 Harvesting Processing and Transport 77 Support Services 11 Train Transportation 5 Total 130

9. Wastewood Disposal Benefits Local Residents bring 2,000-3,000 tons/year of yard trimmings Local Businesses bring 3,000-4,000 tons/year of clean shipping pallets Clean energy usage eliminates $85/ton land-filling costs and creates power for 5,000 homes

10. Electrical Reliability Benefits Burlington lights stayed on in Great Northeast Blackout! Burlington lights stayed on in 1998 Ice Storm! Vermont unaffected with loss of 250 MW transmission line from New York in 2000! Provides power price stability in spite of fluctuating market costs!

11. New Technology Biomass Gasification allows more efficient energy from biomass Expanded Fuel Potential Still in development stage Used as basis of technical requirements for Massachusetts RPS for biomass

12. NOx Removal System Reduces NOx emissions by 50%+ Allows McNeil to qualify for RECs 1.5 year payback 93% voter favorability in bond vote!

13. Waste Heat Utilization

14. District Heating

15. District Heating in Burlington

16. Challenges at McNeil Competing with other wood fueled plants that have enjoyed generous PURPA rates while McNeil pays 25% more for fuel because of harvesting notification and rail requirements Matching widely variable fuel demand with supply Lack of Consistency with energy and REC pricing Irrational and unattainable RPS eligibility requirements (60% efficiency for biomass plants in Massachusetts)