You asked what it might have cost to construct and operate a conventional heating and cooling system (as opposed to the fuel cell energy project) at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School (CJTS).

SUMMARY

The best estimate we can obtain for the cost of equipping CJTS with “conventional” energy systems is $ 1. 5 million. The estimate for the annual operating costs of such systems (gas and electricity purchases plus staff) is $ 981,890. Both figures are provided by the Department of Public Works (DPW) and are based on costs at the Ohio juvenile facility on which CJTS was modeled.

CJTS CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATING COSTS

The best estimate we can obtain for what it would have cost to equip the CJTS facility with “conventional” heating and cooling equipment (i. e. , equipment powered by natural gas and electricity) is $ 1. 5 million. This figure comes from Steve Murphy, the planning specialist in the DPW’s Technical Services Unit who worked on the energy component of the CJTS project. Murphy says that a Kaestle Boos Associates staff member (Kaestle Boos was the CJTS architect) provided him with this figure,

which was the installed cost of the energy equipment at the Ohio facility on which CJTS was modeled. That facility used stand-alone heating and cooling equipment in each building on the campus and was powered by conventional energy sources.

In June 2000, when the CJTS fuel cell project bids were being evaluated, Murphy prepared several energy cost scenarios for Nicholas Cioffi, the Department of Children and Families’ CJTS project manager. One was an estimate, based on the Ohio facility, for providing “conventional” energy to CJTS, adjusted for Connecticut electricity and natural gas prices and staff costs. This estimate was for $ 981,890 in annual costs--$ 700,000 for gas and electricity and $ 281,890 for staff, including fringe benefits. Murphy based his energy cost estimates on projections of 2000-2002 energy costs; today’s costs are somewhat higher.

Table 1 compares Murphy’s estimated construction, annual operating, and annual debt service costs for a conventional facility with the costs reported in OLR report 2004-R-0025 for constructing, operating, and paying debt service on the installed fuel cell plant.

Table 1: Hypothetical Conventional Energy Costs

at CJTS v. Actual Fuel Cell Project Costs

Murphy recently tested the validity of his 2000 estimates using a different cost estimating methodology. He believes his figures stand up “as reasonable and generally reliable. ”

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