Geothermal Case Moves to Litigation

The geothermal saga continues. After failed mediation on October 16, 2024, the Board of Selectmen discussed the issue during a special meeting on November 6, 2024, in which they went into executive session. At the regular meeting that followed, First Selectman Bill Morrison said that the Town of Stafford was unable to reach an agreement with the designer and builder of the geothermal system, Trison Construction. 

Trison has now brought suit against Stafford in Superior Court (you can see the case documents here), and the matter has been turned over to the town’s counsel. Here’s the short version according to the court documents: In 2015, Trison Construction designed and installed a geothermal heating system that was supposed to heat Stafford schools and immediately ran into issues on the site. By December 2015, the town could not maintain the proper hot water temperatures to heat the buildings. Trison says it performed work outside its original scope to address the alarms and compressor failures and is seeking payment for the outstanding balance of the original contract, $101,778.53, and $157,222.00 for change orders. They seek additional interest on these amounts.

The geothermal system, however, does not work correctly and has not delivered the savings and service. According to a statement from the town attorney earlier this year, Stafford claimed the system was failing and still needed to use its boiler system to heat the buildings. Then, in 2019, Stafford retained van Zelm Heywood & Shadford to perform a preliminary project review. That process determined that “the ground source heat pump (‘GSHP’) systems as designed and installed were poorly integrated with the existing building HVAC systems and have inadequate capacity.”

Morrison, who is unable to speak freely on the pending litigation, told the Stafford Free Press, that not much was happening with the case before he came into office: “I wanted to get it moving again, and that’s where it’s at.” There is more waiting to come. No court dates have been scheduled.

Update: Since this article originally published, much has changed. Most importantly, the Town of Stafford filed a counterclaim. Essentially Stafford says that Trison was contracted to provide design and build a turnkey system, "including but not limited to HVAC load calculations, geothermal heat pump sizing and selection, ground heat exchanger design, and all other aspects of the design for each of the Geothermal Systems."

The counterclaim also states, "Pursuant to the Contract, all equipment and systems installed as part of the Geothermal Systems and included in the Work were required to operate trouble-free for a minimum period of three (3) days, before final acceptance of the Work by Stafford."

That, however, did not happen according to Stafford. According to the claim, "On or about December 2015, almost immediately after Geothermal System equipment was initially installed by Trison for each Building, the Geothermal Systems were failing to function and operate as required by the Contract’s specifications and otherwise without problems, as the Geothermal Systems failed to provide sufficient heat to the Buildings and the ClimaCool heat pumps installed by Trison suffered mechanical equipment failures, such that the Geothermal Systems could not be used by Stafford."

For years, Trison and the system engineer attempted fixes were attempted and reportedly failed. Stafford's complaint says it paid Trison more than $6,000,000 but that Trison did not fulfill its promises. "As such, Stafford is entitled to restitution for the benefits for which Trison has unjustly been paid without fulfilling its promises," says the complaint, and also suggests other compensation, for unrealized benefits of the system, should be determined at trial.

While the lawsuit is moving forward, don't expect to see results until 2028 when trial is scheduled.