Les Otten’s plan to sell and service pellet-fired boilers has sparked the concern of at least one industrial group.

In its weekly newsletter distributed Friday, the Maine Pulp & Paper Association raised some alarm about a new market for wood pellets, which are already in short supply for pulp and paper makers.

“There’s no question that this will compete with existing uses (for pellets) within the pulp and paper industry,” said John Williams, association president. He said in Europe, where pellets are commonly used to heat homes, the price for pellets has risen dramatically, and he fears the same for Maine. “This could hit the forest products industry hard.”

The industry is already having a hard time finding pellets, some of which are made from sawdust. With the standstill in the construction industry, several Maine and Canadian saw mills have stopped production, and with it, the source for sawdust.

“What sawdust is available is in big demand,” Williams said. Tne Lincoln Pulp and Tissue mill has seen its pellet price double in less than a year because of the short supply, exacerbated by the export of Maine-made pellets to feed the European demand, he said.

Otten said there are more than enough pellets either in production or in the pipeline to satisfy the paper industry and what he hopes will be demand from his company, Maine Energy Systems. His goal is to have 10 percent of Maine homes that currently heat with oil switch to wood pellets within five to seven years.

“There’s no question that there’s ample wood supply from certified forests to provide Maine with heat,” said Otten, citing Maine Forest Service surveys. “This is not a threat to the forest products industry in Maine.”

He said his company is not out to make life harder for the pulp and paper industry, but rather to introduce a new heating option to hard-pressed homeowners.

“I think we can make sure there’s room in Maine for all uses of wood fiber,” he said.

Otten chairs the governor’s wood-to-energy task force, which has been meeting since January. Williams said he has attended several of the meetings and intends to speak May 28 at the task force’s public hearing on wood-to-energy initiatives.

– Carol Coultas