Pennsylvania’s abundant natural gas resources, along with the prediction that many of its coal-fired power plants will be retired in coming years, make the state a promising place for power plants that run on natural gas.
This week Calpine, an electricity company based in Houston, officially dedicated its latest plant in Delta, York County, near the Susquehanna River and the Maryland state line. When Calpine bought Conectiv Energy last year, the Delta plant, which was under construction, came along with the acquisition.
The plant, called the York Energy Center, is what’s called a combined-cycle plant. This means it generates electricity in natural-gas powered turbines, which creates hot water vapor. That vapor is captured in a steam turbine to produce even more electricity. “You make a lot more energy with a lot less pollution,” says Stu Widom, Calpine’s manager of government and regulatory affairs. The York plant has about 20 full-time workers and can generate 565 megawatts, serving more than 450,000 homes.
Calpine operates 92 power plants, including one that opened in Bethlehem in 2003. That plant primarily runs on natural gas but can also use diesel fuel. Widom says this is also true of the York Energy Center, which is similar to the plant in Bethlehem.
Source: Stu Widom, Calpine
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen
