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Burnham CEO says Pasco RNG project faces higher costs, proposes truck‑in trial and rate restructuring
Summary
Chris Tinen, CEO of Burnham, told the council the renewable natural gas project is underperforming on gas volumes and faces higher treatment costs; he proposed a one‑year truck‑in waste trial and rate restructuring and said Burnham delivered $66 million in cash tied to the investment tax credit.
Chris Tinen, chief executive officer of Burnham, briefed the Pasco City Council during public comment that the city's renewable natural gas (RNG) wastewater project is producing less gas and has larger operating costs than initially projected.
Tinen said the company has delivered "over $66 million in cash related to the investment tax credit" to the city and that, "we project over the life of the project RNG net of costs will deliver over $150 to $200 million of benefit." He also described a budget shortfall driven largely by factors he attributed to external conditions: lower processor volumes, contractual adjustments tied to inflation and interest rates, and regulatory construction issues.
To increase gas production, Burnham proposed two strategies: a one‑year trial allowing trucked organic waste to be accepted at the facility at no cost to the city, and restructuring processor rates to incentivize higher organic input. Tinen described those as "challenging but surmountable" and recommended phased approaches including phasing in utility taxes.
He outlined a breakdown of the cost gap, saying roughly 80% of it was caused by external factors: "40% from the lower processor volumes, 25% for contractual adjustments... and another 20% were tied to the city's chosen nitrogen system and citing regulatory issues during construction." He also said that investing $66 million in U.S. Treasuries could yield interest that would help the budget shortfall.
Council members thanked Burnham's representatives for their work and for participating in follow‑up discussions; no formal vote or action on the RNG project was taken at the meeting. Council and staff later continued routine business and public hearings.
