Continued from Berlin NH Facebook « Result #1 on Nov 15, 2009, 3:45pm »
Continued from Berlin Facebook;
This past November 3rd I was elected to once again serve ward 4, this time for the 4-year term. Keep in mind I ran unopposed, but more on that later. Although I don’t foresee having anymore time now then I did in the past to promote and maintain the site, I do feel more comfortable discussing current issues that we as a community are working to address. So when possible I will make more effort to use the forum to comment on issues in hopes that it may help provide additional information, spark a conversation or simply help to keep one going. Even if I can’t post on a regular bases, or if the site is not regularly visited, it will at least provide me an outlet to share my views. Of course I encourage others to do the same.
Perhaps the most difficult thing for me as a councilor is gauging the feelings of those I represent. I do on occasion get the opportunity to engage customers coming through the store. But that is really the extent of feedback I get other then the occasional phone call. Initially I attributed that to the fact that I was new to the area and that folks might not feel comfortable approaching me. However in talking to other councilors, particularly those who have roots in the community, it turns out they too get very little feedback from constituents. So for whatever reason, I am not alone in regard to that.
That being said, the most common problem I run into when I do have conversations with people is that I find many times they have formed an opinion based on incomplete or inaccurate information. Now please understand I am not pointing fingers as to who’s fault that is. I too once believed I was a fairly well informed citizen. That is until I began serving on the council. Now it is kind of like getting “the rest of the story”. That is not intended to be a dig at the local media. I won’t pretend to understand the politics that come into play with regard to the local media outlets. But suffice to say you will likely learn more by attending a meeting in person verses reading the condensed version in the paper. Which brings up another topic that is being discussed among some councilors, televised meetings. Obviously the benefit is that with televised meetings there is no middleman to filter what is being said. Televised meetings won’t guaranty a better-informed public, but it is one less excuse for not having one. I will try to post more about that as news comes available.
So with all that being said, the intent of this post was merely to say that this site does exist for what ever it’s worth. My meager attempt to help provide an additional source of information. Or perhaps spark some conversation. Who knows, maybe I’ll even get a little feedback.
Very concerning as a rate payer. « Result #5 on Mar 12, 2009, 6:36am »
PSNH won’t even talk to potential power producers. Who’s pocketbook are they really looking out for?
Follow the link and download the audio from a recent Berlin ZBA meeting where representative Bill Gabler say’s PSNH won’t even talk to Clean Power about buying power from them.
Laidlaw Reaches Agreement for the Financing « Result #8 on Apr 1, 2008, 7:04am »
Laidlaw Reaches Agreement for the Financing of its Berlin, NH Biomass-Energy Project Tuesday April 1, 7:00 am ET
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Laidlaw Energy Group, Inc. (Ticker Symbol “LLEG”), through its affiliate, Laidlaw Berlin BioPower, LLC, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with HH Capital Advisors, LLC for the financing required for its Berlin, New Hampshire biomass-energy project. Such agreement is structured as a sale-leaseback transaction, in this regard Laidlaw Berlin BioPower, LLC will be selling the project to a newly formed entity affiliated with HH Capital Advisors, LLC and leasing the project back pursuant to a long term net lease.
The transaction is structured such that there will be two separate closings. The first closing will occur after and if a variety of conditions precedent have occurred, including, without limitation, that Laidlaw Berlin BioPower, LLC has the land on which the project will be constructed under its exclusive control and that HH Capital Advisors, LLC has approved: (i) the lease under which Laidlaw Berlin BioPower, LLC will be leasing the project back from HH Capital Advisors, LLC, (ii) the environmental condition of the property, (iii) the title to the property, (iv) a development budget, (v) a development agreement, and (vi) a letter of intent covering all the major provisions of the proposed power purchase agreement for 100% of the power to be produced by the project. At the first closing $8 million will be funded to be used for the acquisition of the land and working capital in connection with the continued development efforts regarding the project. Laidlaw believes that it has met or can readily meet the foregoing conditions.
The second closing will occur after and if a variety of additional conditions precedent have occurred, including, without limitation, that Laidlaw Berlin BioPower, LLC has obtained in final form and HH Capital Advisors, LLC has received and approved: (i) all of the agreements relating to the project, including, without limitation, the power purchase agreement for 100% of the power to be produced by the project and the contract for the construction of the project, (ii) all permits with respect to the construction and operation of the project, (iii) all reports, studies and financial projections supporting the feasibility of the project. At the second closing sufficient monies will be funded to cover the balance of the estimated total costs for the development, construction and financing of the project.
Commenting on the Agreement with HH Capital Advisors, LLC, Laidlaw Berlin BioPower, LLC President and CEO Michael Bartoszek stated “We are truly excited about entering into this arrangement with HH Capital Advisors, LLC. This Agreement comes after a long courtship between Laidlaw Berlin BioPower, LLC and HH Capital Advisors, LLC and an extended period of deliberation on our part as to what represents the best opportunity for the financing of the project. While we received numerous offers and overtures to finance this project from major institutional investors, including Morgan Stanley, Macquarie Bank and Greystone & Co., we concluded that the structure offered by HH Capital Advisors, LLC presents the best opportunity for us. In addition, they have substantial experience in financing major capital projects, including energy facilities.”
Laidlaw is in the process of finalizing the definitive asset purchase agreement with North American Dismantling Corp, the current owner of the Berlin site, and expects to announce the execution of this document within the next several days.
About the Berlin, NH Biomass-Energy Project:
The Berlin project involves the conversion of the former Fraser Paper pulp mill site into a highly advanced biomass-to-energy project that is expected to export approximately 60 megawatts of renewable energy to the New England power grid and utilize over 700,000 tons of clean wood biomass chips per annum. The project involves a capital investment of approximately $100 million and is expected to employ 40 directly and create over 500 indirect jobs. Once completed, the plant is expected to be among the largest and most environmentally advanced biomass-energy plants in North America.
About HH Capital Advisors, LLC
HH Capital Advisors, LLC is a financial advisory boutique firm that transacts in one-off transactions in various asset classes largely through capital market execution. HH Capital Advisors, LLC is comprised of a management team with unique experience and expertise in the execution of structured finance transactions, focusing on project finance, renewable energy, multimedia entertainment and real-estate ventures. The Company's unique understanding of and expertise in structured finance enables it to transact in any asset class.
About Laidlaw Energy Group
Laidlaw Energy is engaged in the development of independent power plants that generate electricity from renewable resources, with a particular emphasis on biomass power. Laidlaw Energy's mission is to build and manage a profitable portfolio of biomass facilities through the development of new facilities and acquisition of existing facilities, and in so doing become the leading supplier of biomass power in the United States. Laidlaw Energy is headquartered in New York, New York. For more information, please visit our website at www.LaidlawEnergy.com.
This communication contains statements expressing expectations of future events and/or results which may include, without limitation, statements concerning anticipated financial performance, business prospects, technological developments, potential markets, new products, research and development activities and similar matters. Such statements constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements based on future expectations rather than historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and Laidlaw cannot provide assurance that such statements will prove to be correct. Laidlaw undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contact:
E&E Communications Paul Knopick, 949-707-5365 pknopick@eandecommunications.com or Laidlaw Energy Group, Inc. Edward D. Meyers, 212-480-9882 info@laidlawenergy.com
Part 2: Are they really in the energy business? « Result #9 on Mar 22, 2008, 9:07am »
When a company decides to market a new widget there are many things to consider including potential sales and revenue, cost of producing the widget, is there a market for the widget and how to access the potential market to name a few. Laidlaw Energy Group (LLEG) have taken a questionable, possibly smoke and mirror approach in Berlin, New Hampshire, they don't have a product to market and access to the market is not available in the immediate or long term future, the only thing they have produced to date are enough press releases to wallpaper the Great Wall of China. The City of Berlin in Coos County, New Hampshire, once a prosperous town supported by paper industries has been in decline since 1917, and on March 6, 2006 Fraser Paper the last remaining mill announced their closing displacing 250 workers. A world wide company called North American Dismantling Company purchased the 121 acre site located in the main part of downtown Berlin. Shortly after, LLEG announced they had entered into a partnership with NADC to use a building housing a 12 story recovery boiler and 300 foot stack to build a 60 megawatt biomass energy plant on a small part of the site using only clean wood chips as the fuel source. A copy of the agreement with NADC apparently has not been made public along with an alleged agreement with Babcox & Wilcox to restore the boiler, contrary to press releases by Laidlaw a contract had not been signed as of late 2007. Red Flags Flying The situation in Berlin is similar to what happened in Ellicottville whereas LLEG have been very evasive in answering many of the pertinent questions regarding the entire project. One of the main questions and the key to the entire project relates to being in the Queue better known as the waiting line to get on the ISO New England grid. As mentioned earlier, if you build a widget you must have access to the marketplace. Currently there are other companies in the Queue ( it works on a first come first served basis) waiting to go on line including Nobel Environmental Power a highly respected wind energy company, Clean Power Development, a company owned by 3 individuals, collectively they have over 100 years of experience in the energy business, plus approximately 5 other companies. And then we have Laidlaw, a Pink Sheet Stock, highly speculative company whom haven't produced one watt of electricity. Laidlaw owner Michael Bartoszek in yet another press release mentions the entire Queue System is outdated and claims ISO New England, a not for profit organization that operates the power system in New England will be changing the system. Would this mean ISO would disregard all previous, well established procedures allowing a penny stock company lacking any track record in the energy business to move up with the other reputable, well established energy producers? According to LLEG's press releases they plan on spending $60 million dollars to build the 60 megawatt biomass plant, the current transmission system in Coos County can only handle 60 more megawatts. First in the Queue system in Coos County is Noble Environmental Power with two wind projects, the first is a100 megawatt wind farm expected to be on line in 2009 and a second farm that would produce 140 megawatts. At a cost of $10 million to Noble the line can be upgraded to accommodate the full 100 megawatt output from the first farm. There are currently 3 options being considered to increase the grid capacity with rough estimates ranging from $160 to $210 million with developers expected to pick up the cost for the upgrades under the current system. The proposed upgrades could take up to 5 years or longer to complete. This raises the ante for Laidlaw getting their proposed product to the market. After all the hype about the proposed Berlin cogeneration plant for the past year Laidlaw finally applied (according to a press release by Laidlaw on 2-19-08) with ISO New England for interconnection to the grid. Why has this major step to get their product to the marketplace taken so long? Several other questions come to mind including; should the plant be built at a cost of $60 million, can a penny stock company afford countless millions more to contribute to additional power lines, and can Laidlaw along with other companies wait for 5 years or possibly longer until the additional lines are built for the Coos loop? There other factors to consider including the future direction in the energy marketplace. Nuclear plants can produce one megawatt of electricity for $10 to $15, coal plants are between $35 and $50 per megawatt and natural gas can be $50 and upwards. In a statement I received from Laidlaw they claim biomass is roughly the same as natural gas per megawatt. This is highly questionable when you consider the cost of gathering the "clean" wood chips, trucking them to the site, cost of fuel for the trucks, storing the chips, feeding them onto the conveyor to feed the boiler and the large amount required to produce electricity. There is also the question of future availability of wood chips in the greater New England area with all the proposed wood burning biomass plants projected and regardless of claims about a "clean environment" there is considerable air pollution that contains many known carcinogens to be considered from burning wood. With the above mentioned major roadblocks facing LLEG and the citizens of Berlin beginning to realize as they did in Ellicottville there are few, if any benefits hosting a commercial endeavor that could affect the health of everyone in the community and may very well stop the project, why are Laidlaw continuing? Common business sense would dictate moving on and finding another type of widget to sell unless the company is making enough money in the Over the Counter Pink Sheet penny stocks through their numerous press releases.
Footnote: On January 9, 2008 Laidlaw announced they were suing the Town of Ellicottville in the amount of $10 million causing a flurry of activity in their stock. To date the Town has not been served.
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