Using funds from the federal Recovery Act, Williamsport Hospital and Medical Center in Williamsport, Pa. has completed construction of a new energy service center.
The hospital is part of Susquehanna Health System. The energy service center project is part of Susquehanna Health's Project 2012, a multi-year, multi-million dollar expansion and modernization effort.
John Hanger, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, spoke at the ceremony celebrating the completion of the energy service center.
"As facilities expand, they require more energy to meet operational needs,” he said. “The new energy service center ensures the hospital has enough energy resources to meet those needs. Improvements in energy efficiency must also keep pace with the increase in demand. We now look forward to the next step, the installation of a cogeneration system that will make this new facility even more energy efficient."
In March, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell awarded Susquehanna Health a $1 million Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority grant to install a new, two-megawatt cogeneration system that will generate electricity and capture and reuse waste heat to provide heat and hot water for the hospital. The project is one of the first in the state to receive funding through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The system will generate more than 15 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year, equivalent to the energy used by more than 1,500 average homes. The project also created 35 jobs.
"This is an example of how we are putting the stimulus funds to work by implementing advanced energy measures and creating green collar jobs," said Hanger. "The federal funding presents us with opportunities to move forward shovel-ready projects that otherwise might have been left on the drawing board."
Project 2012 is a $250 million undertaking that will expand the hospital's physical footprint from 500,000 to 800,000 square feet. By replacing the hospital's two boilers, which were installed in 1947, carbon emissions will be reduced by 50 percent. When the cogeneration system is fully operational, the hospital hopes to realize a total energy savings of more than $1 million annually.
Susquehanna Health is a three-hospital health system, comprised of Divine Providence Hospital, Muncy Valley Hospital and The Williamsport Hospital & Medical Center, located in north central Pennsylvania.