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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

District energy growth

Journal Article · · Independent Energy
OSTI ID:183343

Utility competition is heating up as utilities focus attention back to district energy after turning away from it for decades after World War II. Utilities are re-entering the district energy business by forming non-regulated district energy subsidiaries. Trigen Energy Corp., as the largest commercial owner and operator of community district energy systems in North America, defines the district heating and cooling (DHC) growth trend of systems being taken over, upgraded and expanded. These trends gather momentum with the economic attractions that have propelled DHC for the past decade and more. With DHC, a building owner worries less about maintenance and can operate with a smaller workforce for maintenance. Heating and cooling systems operate more reliably. Trigen`s Trenton plant, producing electricity, heating and cooling, recovers 66 percent of input energy - more than double the efficiency of conventional electric generation. Yet, it produces less than one-half the pollutants of conventional generation.

OSTI ID:
183343
Journal Information:
Independent Energy, Journal Name: Independent Energy Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 25; ISSN 1043-7320; ISSN IDPEEW
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English