The city of Aspen is looking to off-load a hydro turbine and generator that has been sitting in storage for 4 years.
In a city council work session Tuesday, David Hornbacher, Director of Utilities and Environmental Initiatives, said there were three options for the future of the custom-made machinery, originally purchased for a non-existing Castle Creek Energy Center.
The first option he listed is to sell the equipment. A second option is to search an ideal place to install the equipment. The problem with that is the custom specifications of the machinery make it hard to fit anywhere else. Former city employee Will Dolan now consults with the city’s Utility Department.
“Out of the 87,000-plus dams, the equipment is suitable for only 21 or fewer in the United States, and many of those dams already have hydropower installed on them,” said Dolan
Throughout the meeting, council members said despite the equipment’s controversial history, they wanted to only discuss the future options for the turbine. But the past did come up.
Jim Markalunas, a self-described “longtime advocate of renewable hydroelectric energy for Aspen” scolded council for backing away from the machinery's original use - to supply power to the city of aspen using the force of Maroon Creek and Castle creeks’ waterflow.
“I think you as a council should be ashamed of yourself for not having the intestinal fortitude to install that turbine where it belongs right here in the city of Aspen,” said Markalunas.
The entire project came to a halt after a 2012 election resulted in 51 percent of city residents voting against the energy center where the turbine would have operated. The financing behind the “no” vote was kept confidential, but many point to wealthy homeowners such as Bill Koch, Bruce Carlson and Maureen Hirsch.
Mayor Steve Skadron, who has just returned from the worldwide climate talks in Paris, agreed with Markalunas, saying the most “Aspen” thing to do would be to continue to store the equipment until a favorable time arises to try to install it.
“I think we should keep Aspen Aspen,” said Skadron. “We are green, we are 100% renewable, we do most of that on contracts. We could be doing it ourselves and I think it’s a direction we should pursue and we should hold on to it until we figure out how to get it done.”
Council members Adam Frisch, Bert Myrin and Ann Mullins recommended a hybrid solution — finding an alternative location for the turbine — and trying to sell it. Frisch said selling the equipment now doesn’t exclude Aspen from turning to Hydro power in the future.
“i have a feeling with everything that goes into restarting everything the go/no-go decision for the community will not be based on us needing to buy another turbine that we just sold,” said Frisch
The council gave Hornbacher and his staff no later than March to update them on whether to transfer or well the hydro equipment.