peakbagger
In Rembrance , July 2024
The claim is that currently the Balsams is a deteriorated facility which has gotten more so since 2011 when it finally closed and then stripped clean by the current owners. There is no significant property tax revenue and more importantly no jobs associated with a defunct resort. Realistically its currently a fire waiting to happen which befell many other grand resorts. The ski area will just slowly grow in after whatever infrastructure that can be removed is removed, like Evergreen Valley in Stoneham (I will make a plug for Jeremy's lost ski areas website). The golf course might try to survive but I expect it will become a hayfield eventually. The theory with making the state loans is that there will be taxable value created due to new construction and that's where the state expects to be paid back. There is the equivalent of a Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) district in place where any increase in property taxes associated with the project goes back to pay off the state loans. There is also the state room and meals tax for a large portion of any money spent by customers. Thus the rational for state and federal loans or loan guarantees.
I think the theory is even if the resort doesn't make it long term that the taxable assets will remain and be a better potential revenue source to the state and county than is what is there currently. The resort claims that even with this warm winter that they kept snow records and they would have had a reasonable winter with low enough temps to retain the snowpack. They are on the same snow track as Jay Peak which usually has snow even on a poor year elsewhere. Generally on low snow winters like the past one Northern NH does seem to keep a snow pack as evidenced by the trucks with Mass plates and trailers full of sleds heading north. The Balsams concept has a pipeline to the Androscoggin River so they have an unlimited supply of water for snow. In past years many of the major resorts in the region are seriously limited on water available for snow making and the Balsams will not have this limitation. Les Otten made his first millions at Sunday River where he bet that snowmaking and extensive terrain was the future and two warm winters in a row proved him right, when other slopes were closed or very terrain limited Les had the snow guns cranking. If he hits a couple of winters in row where southern New England and even the Whites has a low snow year, that could pull traffic up to the resort and some of the skiers will buy into the real estate development which is the real profit maker.
There is also another little known advantage that I expect the Balsams is banking on. Power for the resort is coming from the Coos Grid through the Millsfield Wind Farm. The Coos Grid is currently significantly undersized for the amount of renewable power plants connected to it to the point where there are many days where the power cannot be shipped to southern NH and on to the rest of New England. In this situation the power plants in Coos County are forced to limit their production. With the exception of the Berlin Biomass plant which can be idled, the hydros are run of the river so they don't have much option to turn off and the windfarms have an incentive in place where they can pay to sell power and still make a profit if the wind is blowing. The Balsams is upstream of the congestion point so they have the potential for cheap electric power from the wind farm. The wind farm can also sell power directly to the Balsams without paying transmission fees to Eversource. The combination of the two is a low cost for power which is major competitive advantage compared to other resorts farther south as the electric power to run the snow gun pumps and compressors is a significant portion of a lift ticket.
I think the theory is even if the resort doesn't make it long term that the taxable assets will remain and be a better potential revenue source to the state and county than is what is there currently. The resort claims that even with this warm winter that they kept snow records and they would have had a reasonable winter with low enough temps to retain the snowpack. They are on the same snow track as Jay Peak which usually has snow even on a poor year elsewhere. Generally on low snow winters like the past one Northern NH does seem to keep a snow pack as evidenced by the trucks with Mass plates and trailers full of sleds heading north. The Balsams concept has a pipeline to the Androscoggin River so they have an unlimited supply of water for snow. In past years many of the major resorts in the region are seriously limited on water available for snow making and the Balsams will not have this limitation. Les Otten made his first millions at Sunday River where he bet that snowmaking and extensive terrain was the future and two warm winters in a row proved him right, when other slopes were closed or very terrain limited Les had the snow guns cranking. If he hits a couple of winters in row where southern New England and even the Whites has a low snow year, that could pull traffic up to the resort and some of the skiers will buy into the real estate development which is the real profit maker.
There is also another little known advantage that I expect the Balsams is banking on. Power for the resort is coming from the Coos Grid through the Millsfield Wind Farm. The Coos Grid is currently significantly undersized for the amount of renewable power plants connected to it to the point where there are many days where the power cannot be shipped to southern NH and on to the rest of New England. In this situation the power plants in Coos County are forced to limit their production. With the exception of the Berlin Biomass plant which can be idled, the hydros are run of the river so they don't have much option to turn off and the windfarms have an incentive in place where they can pay to sell power and still make a profit if the wind is blowing. The Balsams is upstream of the congestion point so they have the potential for cheap electric power from the wind farm. The wind farm can also sell power directly to the Balsams without paying transmission fees to Eversource. The combination of the two is a low cost for power which is major competitive advantage compared to other resorts farther south as the electric power to run the snow gun pumps and compressors is a significant portion of a lift ticket.
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