The Chapel Hill Town Council held a public hearing Monday on a University proposal to dramatically increase the capacity of the power plant on West Cameron Avenue. The only problem: No one quite seemed to know what was going on.
Council members wanted town staff to do more research on the matter, and University officials were baffled by requests from a neighborhood association.
The power-producing complex at the heart of the matter was a cogeneration facility located next to a Duke Power substation.
The cogeneration facility uses boilers to make steam - used for heating and cooling purposes across campus - and the steam to turn turbines, producing a portion of the electricity used on campus.
University officials had requested a special-use permit to change the structure by adding additional cooling towers and an extra turbine, among other things.
"These projects are designed so that we will have maximum efficiency," said Peter Krawchyk, the University's assistant director for project management.
Raymond DuBose, director of energy services, said the additional turbine will allow the University to make better use of the steam already being generated.
Council members wanted to know whether the plant, under the new plan, would burn more fuel than it does now.
DuBose answered yes, but after the meeting he said that he was referring to a related project on Manning Drive - which was recently expanded - and that the facility under discussion Monday would not in fact burn more fuel after the modifications.
