A Jamestown man who helped build the Board of Public Utilities’ district heating system has concerns about efforts to retool the program.

Doug Champ worked for the BPU, leaving 20 years ago. He addressed the board at their latest meeting, raising concerns about where they are headed with the new system.

“I was here when they built the system,” Champ said. “It was a struggle at best, but it got done. I want the board to understand the keystones of district heating and how it works.”

Champ said for the district heating system to work there must be a central heating source and a customer base in close proximity. He addressed that he has traveled the country, seeing how other district heating systems work and that he helped to change many buildings over. Since he left the BPU, he said no one has done anything to help build a customer base or work on more fuel sources.

“There’s a lot of possibilities out there which I have directed towards general managers,” Champ said. “Some before I left, some after, but nothing was done. Now you’re faced with obsolescence after 40 years of constant use.”

Champ added that there are at least three miles before any potential customer that will be included in the district heating system. He asked the board about costs for water pipelines in the area of one mile, giving a figure of around $3 million dollars for three miles of pipe. The other option, Champ said, would be if there is enough electrical capacity in the current system to accept the over 70 customers on the electrical side of the project.

“As you add on more electrification, that capacity becomes more and more of a problem,” Champ said.

He continued by saying the board’s plans and targets for the project are, in his opinion, not feasible. He said he has talked with people all across the country about district heating and was a flex consultant. The return on the investment of the project is two years or less.

“In addition to that, I guess I question what you want to do with existing customers,” Champ said. “Do you want them to do something on their own or will you help them convert over?”

Champ raised other concerns around the plans for the new project, including costs and temperature. Additionally, Champ said he has had people come up to him with questions, since they know he helped to build the system. He said he was not sure how to respond or who to refer them to for the project, and that he would like to look at the study and would not like to see the Retool project fail. David Leathers, BPU general manager, said the study by NYSERDA has not been completed so therefore it has not been published yet.