BPA drops water heater investigation
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July 23, 2013 |
Correction:
After publishing the article regarding the BPA,
I received a phone call offering clarification.
I failed in my quest for accuracy by forgetting
to ask the name of my source and spelling it
wrong; I also failed to ask the right questions;
BPA is not an investigative body. The gist of
the story stands.
An investigation by the Bonneville Power
Administration of alleged illegal actions by
City of Bonners Ferry officials regarding a test
program involving a local test of
high-efficiency water heaters ended Friday with
no action taken.
The complaint, filed by city resident Gerald
Higgs, was also lodged with city law enforcement
and was forwarded through channels to the Idaho
Attorney General's Office, with that
investigation expected to begin in early August.
The allegations stem from a study conducted in
2010 under the aegis of BPA as part of the
development process of next-generation heat pump
water heater technology by the Electric Power
Research Institute (EPRI), under which 200 heat
pump water heaters were installed in homes
throughout the northwest, including Bonners
Ferry and rigorously monitored and compared to
standard electric resistance water heaters for
overall efficiency.
In order to attain the random sampling required,
BPA left selection of the recipients of the new
water heaters to the heads of the utilities in
the several regions where the test was
conducted. In Bonners Ferry, that fell to city
administrator Stephen Boorman, BPA's
demonstration representative for Bonners Ferry.
Under the test, participants who received the
water heaters had to meet numerous requirements,
they had to be owner occupied, served by a
single water heater, and a list of physical
considerations; such as construction of the wall
area enclosing the water heater, air circulation
standards of the enclosure, outside access and
more.
Those participating in the program had to have
"always on" internet access and be willing to
open their home for inspections when called upon
during the course of the two-year study.
In Bonners Ferry, three homes were accepted to
have the new heat pump water heaters installed
out of four applications submitted. The single
application rejected was due to the home not
meeting the standards prescribed.
In his complaint, Higgs contends that because
two of the recipients were employees of Bonners
Ferry, one of them Boorman himself, several
federal and state laws were broken.
The BPA, however, thought otherwise ... not only
was Boorman's participation appropriate, it was
appreciated.
"We wanted diverse regional participation, and
had a few demonstration representatives meet the
criteria and participate in the study," said BPA
spokesman Joel Scott. "If you look at the site
selection criteria, utility employees are not
excluded."
While he could not cite specific applications,
Scott said that one of the most often cited
reasons for utility personnel participation was
a skepticism of the technology, and if that was
Boorman's rationale, it was well founded.
"The study found that overall, this is a
technology worth pursuing, but more research is
needed," Scott said. "In places like Eugene,
Oregon, it met expectations and worked well, but
in colder, drier places like North Idaho and
northern Montana, the system didn't perform as
well as standard water heaters."
In point of fact, two of the Bonners Ferry
recipients requested that the system be removed
and their old system restored before the study
was concluded. The only local participant to
stay for the duration, providing the honest data
necessary to the success of such a study, was
Boorman.
You can read more about the study and the
technology by
clicking here. |
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