ROCKINGHAM — Gov. Peter Shumlin flew back over the Brockway Mills hydroelectric plant on the Williams River last Friday, following a brief visit to Bellows Falls to hear residents' concerns in the wake of widespread devastation and flood damage caused by Tropical Storm Irene.
“He didn't have time to come by personally,” Eileen Kruger, who co-owns the plant with her husband, Chris, said. “My husband got 90 seconds with him [at the Town Hall] and the governor gave him the number of the head of the Public Service Board to see if we can get a better contract.”
Eileen and Chris Kruger's 12-year efforts to maintain and sell “free energy created by falling water” since 1999 when they bought the plant have come to a heartbreaking halt.
The small mom and pop facility generates 1.6 to 2 million kilowatt hours of power per year and is “locked in” to a contract with Green Mountain Power to sell at below-market value at a rate of 4 cents per kilowatt hour “because the previous owner didn't pay his bills.”
“When we bought the plant that was the contract with Green Mountain Power [in 1999]. We haven't been able to renegotiate the contract before now,” Eileen said. “At that rate, we can just pay our overhead, and keep my husband employed [maintaining the equipment and managing the plant].”
Eileen, who is retired, still needs to work part-time for the U.S. Postal Service. “We're lucky,” she said. “I have a part-time job. We couldn't do this if I didn't.”
But with the difficulties her employer is having, she's not sure that job will last much longer either.
Brockway Mills LLC does not have any insurance coverage for damages following last week's extreme flood damage.
“There's no way we could afford insurance,” she said.
Speaking of those with no flood insurance, like the Krugers, Shumlin conceded during his visit that “some people are going to take a hit and may never recover.”
The hydroelectric plant was under 15 to 20 feet of water, the high-water mark well above the electric panels in the plant operations building.
“We normally see from 3,000 to 4,000 cubic feet of water, and following a typical rain, maybe up to 13,000 cubic feet per hour. We saw about 48,000 cubic feet of water [per hour] come through,” Eileen said. “That's more than the dam in Bellows Falls sees in a day.”
The flood washed away two 1,000-pound welding machines the Krugers used as backup power. “We got one of them back, but we hear someone is trying to sell the second one somewhere around town,” Eileen said. “We don't know who.”
The site of the plant on the Williams River has equipment and tools, piping, and river debris scattered everywhere. The steel stairs are warped and bent from the pressure and pounding of water, and the smell of rotting vegetation rises from plants inextricably woven into the webbing of the steps.
Footing is treacherous, and the turbine silent. A fine dust lingered on railings and the still-damp walls.
“We're drying out equipment, and cleaning up and salvaging electrical equipment. Nothing was spared,” Eileen said. “We had a couple of neighbors and my husband and I hauling buckets of mud up out of here that covered everything [in the turbine room] three to six inches deep.”
The Krugers are not quitters, however.
Taking a chance on hydro
Chris Kruger, a former marine engineer, met Eileen while both served in the Navy.
“Our first date was in Naples. Italy,” Eileen said.
“We've both always wanted to do something with renewable energy,” Chris said. “We looked into everything - wind, solar, hydro.”
“We traveled the country looking at sites,” Eileen said. “When we finally found something we could afford, it was here in Rockingham.”
The Krugers, who live in Langdon, N.H., say they have invested their lifeblood and life energy into making the Brockway Mills hydroelectric plant a going concern for renewable energy in the town of Rockingham.
“We've spent thousands of dollars on equipment here,” Eileen said. “We buy all our parts at J & H Hardware [in Bellows Falls].”
The Krugers must replace “all the electrical coils” on the turbine, both inner and outer, and the machinery needs all new hydraulic controls. The couple makes a low estimate of approximately $650,000 worth of repairs to get the facility running again.
“We'll see,” Kruger said after spending an extended period talking on the phone next to the electrical panels in the damp and dark turbine room, where cleanup and unpaid repair work “for weeks to come” await him.
A good deal, for GMP
From his experience at Green Mountain Power (GMP), from which he is taking a leave of absence from his position as “leader of enterprise innovation,” Neale Lunderville, the Shumlin administration's new “flood recovery czar,” said that the Krugers “have got fantastic [energy] rates” at 4 cents per kilowatthour.
But it's a deal that's more fantastic for GMP than for the Krugers.
While the prices for energy have increased across the board, the Krugers have struggled to make it each year.
When the couple bought the plant in 1999, Eileen said, they thought the price that GMP was offering was good. “But rates have gone up, and where other, bigger companies sell at higher rates, we're locked into the contract.”
The Krugers haven't been able to renegotiate the contract. Eileen said that “even 7 cents [per kW hour]” would allow them the insurance that would be helping them rebound from the destruction of their hydroelectric plant.
They have sought assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which will help them qualify for a $100,000 small business loan. Chris has signed up for emergency unemployment assistance, as he is out of a job until they can get the plant up and running again.
They have a small amount of savings they are sinking into the cleanup and repairs, “but that's not near enough,” Eileen said.