The Arizona Corporation Commission recently dealt a major blow to forest restoration efforts in the state by voting down a proposal to convert an electricity generating unit to burn biomass instead of coal at the soon-to-be-closed Cholla Power Plant. The conversion would have produced 60-90 MW of electricity from biomass and provided a critical market for raw materials coming off major national forest restoration projects in the state that aim to treat more than 2 million acres.
Commission members who voted against the proposal cited its cost, which analysts had said would add $1-$3 to some Arizonans’ power bills. Throughout northern Arizona, officials for the past year had lobbied the corporation commission in attempt to create a market for the millions of tons of biomass coming from the U.S. Forest Service’s 4-Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI).
The effort has been hampered by a lack of markets for biomass, which makes up about half the raw material being produced. Currently only one plant in the state, Novopower, is producing power from biomass, and its 28 MW capacity is roughly three times smaller than the project proposed at Cholla. Arizona Public Service staff had concluded a study stating the conversion of one EGU at the Cholla power plant would have created a market for enough biomass to thin 50,000 acres yearly.