Local dignitaries and agency partners gathered on Wednesday, October 23rd, for Honey Lake Power’s (HLP) open house to celebrate National Bioenergy Day. Attendees included representatives from the Lassen Fire Safe Council, the offices of Congressman Doug LaMalfa and Senator Brian Dahle, Redding Mayor and State Assembly candidate Tenessa Audette, LMUD board members, and several county department heads.
HLP General Manager Pat Holley highlighted the plant’s strong commitment to the community. HLP serves as a crucial resource, generating enough electricity to power nearly 30,000 homes. This capability allows the plant to “island” with LMUD when PG&E experiences outages. Notably, during the Dixie Fire, HLP sustained the local grid for 67 days.
In addition to providing reliable backup power, HLP plays a significant role in reducing wildfire risk. Lassen National Forest Acting Supervisor Tara Jones emphasized the importance of HLP’s partnership in removing forest fuels, supporting the Forest Service’s commitment to wildfire prevention.
HLP’s Fuel Manager noted that, on average, 60 truckloads of wood chips arrive at the plant each day, with about 45 of those burned to produce steam-generated energy. This translates to 175,000 to 200,000 tons of fuel annually. Through partnerships that include timber sales and hazardous fuel reduction projects, HLP helps treat 12,000 to 15,000 acres of forest land each year.
As part of National Bioenergy Day, the event showcased HLP’s role in advancing bioenergy as a sustainable solution for both energy generation and forest management.
