early 1980s to rekindle local interest in
the district heating concept.
The origin of the current Jamestown
system dates to 1981 when the City conducted a feasibility study supported by
a $38,500 contract from the New York
State Energy Research and Development
Authority (NYSERDA). “The support
from NYSERDA was a critical factor in
our early success,” notes Dr. Ishai ‘Sy’
Oliker, who served as the professional
engineer for the system’s initial development. “Together with the efforts of the
Mayor’s Office, the BPU, NYSERDA and
the Citizens Ad-Hoc Advisory Task
Force, we were able to explore the possibility of utilizing waste heat from the
city’s 50 MW power plant to be the energy
source for a hot water district heating
distribution system.”
After further review by the task
force and the infusion of additional
funding from NYSERDA and the City, the
Samuel A. Carlson
Electric Generating Station
At a Glance
Electric generation
Service area:
23 sq miles including Jamestown
and surrounding communities
Peak load: 100 MW
Customers: 19,800
Primary generation:
4 coal-fired boilers
Secondary generation: General
Electric gas turbine generating
50 MW at 13,800 volts
Hydropower: 72 MW
District heating
Service area: 80 sq blocks
Customers: 65
Output: 144,000 MMBtus
District cooling
Service area: 8 sq blocks
Customers: 3
Output: 360 tons
Photo Jim Butler.
The Jamestown post office was retrofitted from steam heat to hot water district heating in 1985,
making it one of the earliest buildings to connect to the new system.
engineering design was completed. In
1984 the City approved an $800,000
bond issue to finance construction of a
pilot project, and by the end of that year
hot water began circulating through
2,000 ft of carbon-steel insulated pipe to
the Jones Hill Hospital, Jamestown
Plywood Corporation, Jamestown City
Department of Public Works garage and
the BPU garage. The year culminated
with the receipt of a National Award for
Energy Innovation and the 1984 New
York State Governor’s Award.
Response to the pilot project was
so positive that in 1985 the City
approved an additional $4 million bond
issue to permit the system expansion to
15 buildings in the central business district. “Many of our initial customers had
very inefficient systems, so the payback
from their conversion to district hot
water heating came fairly quickly, usually in five years or less,” Oliker recalls.
“Their annual fuel savings after conversion ranged from 25 percent to 40 percent. And the plant’s efficiency more
than doubled, going from 27 percent
before the conversion to roughly 56 percent after cogeneration was instituted.”
Oliker’s analysis concludes that during
the period 1984-2004, district heating
customers experienced a cumulative
savings of $9 million compared to the
cost of operating their own equipment.
Looking Toward the Future
Today, 65 customers are connected
to the system, which includes more than
11 miles of twin carbon-steel pipes insulated with polyurethane foam. The
diverse customer base includes industrial
plants, schools, churches, multi-family
“Many of our initial customers
had very inefficient systems, so
the payback from their conver-
sion to district hot water heating
came fairly quickly, usually in
five years or less.”
Dr. Ishai Oliker, P.E.
residential complexes and the Lucille Ball
Little Theater, named after the actress
who was born in the Jamestown area.
These customers currently use approximately 16 MW thermal of district heating
energy, but the system has the potential
to produce 30 MW as demand increases.
Jim Butler, the project engineer who
currently oversees the district heating
operation, notes that “many customers
are saving as much as 30 percent by
using district heating. Those with older
on-site systems may be saving more. In
