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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
All seems to be pretty quiet on the Con Mine geothermal front, but Mayor Gord Van Tighem insists the project is still alive and well.

A financial and annual report for 2011 was recently published on the city website, which shows "minor capital expenses" of $787,000 having gone toward the project last year.

Van Tighem, who was in Edmonton Wednesday and Thursday, says a full breakdown of the figures could not be provided immediately because the audit is closed. However, based on a city staff e-mail, Van Tighem said $490,000 of the money came from a Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) grant. The majority of that money was used for designing a system to convert biomass, such as wood pellets into heat.

The GNWT Department of Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) provided $200,000 for a business plan required for the system. According to ENR spokesperson Judy McLinton, no more money will go toward the project in 2012 until the business plan is completed.

Van Tighem could not provide a date on when the business plan might be completed. He said "it is still a work in progress."

Van Tighem said the balance - $97,000 - came from $500,000 that is budgeted annually by the city for community energy planning. That money went to contracted services, city staff involvement, general project expenses, professional scientific and contracting services, printing, plus travel and accommodation for staff from Vancouver-based Corix Utilities.

Van Tighem said discussions between the city and Corix to finalize a deal on district energy are still ongoing even though more than a year has passed since a tentative memorandum of understanding was reached between the municipality and the private partner.

When contacted this week, a Corix spokesperson said the city has asked them not to speak to the media.

Discussions are also still happening with potential customers for district energy heating, said Van Tighem.

One of those potential customers, Kelly Hayden, vice-president of commercial property with NPR Limited Partnership, said he hasn't heard from the city on the file since late last spring.

He said this should be an important election issue because downtown building owners are trying to find ways of getting away from using heating oil, due to costs, negative environmental impact, and overall difficulties in handling it.

"I think it is worth going at it (reporting) again because it is something that should be talked about at the election," said Hayden. "We are still working with the municipality and our hopes are to have a community heating system that takes us off fuel oil and puts us onto a more sustainable fuel source like biomass or geothermal."

Spencer Decorby, project manager for Polar Developments, said his company has gone in another direction and has not been involved with the city on geothermal discussions since the March 2011 referendum to borrow $49 million, which was rejected by the public.

"We have not had had dealings or communication to or from the city in quite some time on it," said Decorby. "I don't think we have heard from them since last winter, but we are going ahead with a pellet boiler at Anderson Thompson instead of geothermal. It will be the first high rise in the North heated by biomass."

Decorby said the geothermal project should have been canned after the last borrowing vote.

"The people spoke in the referendum and obviously (the city) is not doing that and I find that disappointing," he said. "When the people say 'no' I think the people spending our tax dollars should listen. But we're now doing our own thing."

City councillor David Wind, who was out of town this week, said he understood that a good amount of the money noted in the financial report went to pay for consultants and for costs related to the referendum.

"I haven't heard anything about it lately, but the last I heard (the geothermal project) was still under consideration by Corix. But there has been no indication that it will go ahead," he said. "I would be quite surprised if something were announced now, but I guess it is possible."

A $14.15-million Natural Resources Canada Clean Energy Fund grant is still in play, as well, according to Van Tighem. The city originally submitted a proposal for the funding on Sept. 14, 2009, but to date there has been no announcement to council that this money has been awarded.

"There is somebody (at the city) who talks with them with some regularity and I don't know how recently, but (the grant) is not something that is going away," Van Tighem said.

A request for an update on the proposal and information on whether the funding is still available was put to Natural Resources Canada on Thursday. A response could not be provided by press time.

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