Ford Engineer HAS a BETTER SUSTAINABLE IDEA!

HARNESSING THE POWER IN WATER

Ex-Ford worker invests in old source of hydroelectricity

BY SALLY BARBER • FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER • April 1, 2008

ELK RAPIDS -- Bill Stockhausen, a retired Ford Motor Co. engineer who helped develop Ford's hydrogen internal combustion engine, is breaking ground again -- this time in renewable power generation.

The near-zero-emission engine was Stockhausen's final project before leaving the company two years ago. Last fall, the Northville entrepreneur used his savings and buyout money from Ford and paid Antrim County $195,000 for a new challenge: the operation of the century-old Elk Rapids hydroelectric dam.

His involvement saved the functioning dam from a plan to convert it into an upscale restaurant and ensured that it would continue to produce clean power.

"The plant is old, but by the same token, it has a large stake in the future" because of the demand for renewable energy, Stockhausen said.

Situated between Elk Lake and East Grand Traverse Bay, the facility's two turbines capture the power of falling water, producing enough electricity to supply 700 homes, most of the households within the village. The dam also controls federally mandated lake levels for Elk, Skegemog and

Torch lakes and to a lesser extent Antrim County's chain-of-lakes, the cornerstone of the region's tourism industry.

Antrim County purchased the dam from Consumers Power in 1965 for $1 and then used municipal bonds to cover renovation costs. With updates and repairs looming, and Traverse City

Light & Power phasing out hydroelectric operations, the county sought fiscal relief in a financial agreement allowing the county to retire the debt.

Stockhausen is modernizing the plant by investing an additional undisclosed amount for automated controls, plumbing renovations and a heating system recycling waste heat from generators. He manages it with his son and son-in-law.

"We don't expect this to be the goose that laid the golden egg," he said. "But we hope it will allow our son to make a living, cover all expenses ... and to be able to put a little aside for continuous upgrades."

Inspired by Ford

You could chalk this small victory for renewable energy up in part to Henry Ford. Thirty-five years ago, Stockhausen became fascinated with Ford's Village Industries, the nearly two dozen small industrial complexes throughout southeast Michigan that Ford built in the 1920s and 1930s to operate on hydropower.

"Virtually all are still in existence and could be restored," Stockhausen noted.

Stockhausen's own experiments with hydroelectricity began 35 years ago as a hobby when he and his wife purchased and converted an aging mill. The Bellevue dam near Lansing has since provided electricity to power up to 50 homes. Over the years, he has worked as a consultant on eight hydroelectric dam projects statewide.

Today, his hobby is serious business. Stockhausen serves on a newly formed committee of the Michigan Renewable Energy Program, an organization implemented by the Michigan Public Service Commission. The committee's task is to evaluate the status of hydroelectric power in Michigan and assist in developing state policy.

Limitless possibilities

Statewide, there are 80 hydroelectric dams in operation, with a total production capacity of 330 megawatts. More than 700 additional existing dams could be brought into production, Stockhausen said.

Stockhausen said emerging technology positions hydroelectric as a viable power source capable of increasing Michigan's renewable energy production by several percent. Especially promising is the new generation of kinetic turbines sited in free-flowing streams, rivers and lakes without the use of dams or other infrastructure. Lakes Michigan and Superior and the Detroit River are good candidates for the technology, he said.

According to state estimates, if Michigan continues a business-as-usual, energy-consumption pattern, energy demand will increase 1.3% per year through 2020. No renewable energy source will likely be dismissed as insignificant, said Mark Beyer, a spokesman for NextEnergy in Detroit, which advocates green technology.

"Nothing is out of bounds," he said. "The global thirst and demand for energy is so high, and it will keep going up for the next century and beyond."

Potential to create jobs and more

Today, job creation and opportunities in renewable energy are stymied by the state Legislature's hesitation to adopt a Renewable Portfolio Standard, Beyer said. An RPS would mandate utilities use a designated percentage of renewable energy sources such as hydroelectric, wind or solar.

One popular proposal suggests a standard of 10% renewables by 2015. Others call for a more aggressive plan. Twenty-six states have already adopted RPS standards.

A business climate bolstered by a RPS would unleash activity in the renewable energy industry, Beyer said. Until then, entrepreneurs find opportunity where they can.

"There are niches where people like Stockhausen can get a toehold in small-scale energy -- make money and do well," Beyer said.