Onsite - June 2009

A Gas Executive’s Industry View in 1984

Excerpted from “A Gas Executive’s View of District Heating and Cooling

Benefits, Needs, Opportunities,” Robert H. Willis, Chairman and Chief

Executive Officer, Connecticut Natural Gas Corp., Fourth Quarter 1984

District Heating magazine. Willis spoke at IDHA’s 75th anniversary

conference in June 1984. The Hartford Steam Co., which operates the

system referenced in the article, is now a wholly owned subsidiary of

The Energy East Corp.

“Congratulations on your 75th anniversary.

“District heating and cooling in my opinion is an undertaking with

a great potential that almost no one outside of the industry knows

about, for understandable reasons….

“Connecticut Natural Gas Corp.’s district heating and cooling

operation, now 23 years old, was the first commercial venture of its

kind. We heat and cool most of the major buildings in downtown

Hartford….

“Our district heating and cooling operation has been successful

over the years, and has pioneered in many innovations. Operations

have been profitable in eight of the past 11 years….

“However, like most energy users, we were hit hard by the rising

energy prices of the 1970s and since then….Customer conservation

programs became more and more intensive as energy costs climbed.

Our steam sales plummeted nearly 30 percent from 1973 to 1980 and

chilled-water sales even more.

“We remained convinced that we had an outstanding service to

sell, and our plant and its capacity were steadily upgraded. One

central downtown climate control service saves a lot of energy at a

time when conservation is a national ethic and in spite of current

complacency, is also a national necessity….

“The point I want to make is that central source heating and

cooling, an ancient concept, remains a viable and promising one for

the future, perhaps more so than ever before if we adapt to current

changes and opportunities….

“What is the long range potential for district heating and cooling

progress and service? Unless an association can define it in clear-cut

figures, it is not going to sell the potential to Congress, DOE or anyone

else.

“A second fundamental of association success that I’ve learned is

the fact that vital as lobbying in Washington, D.C., may be, it cannot

be fully effective without backup support from the members back

home….

“No association can really succeed in attaining national legislative

objectives unless its members provide the enthusiastic and unified

local-level support that lets their Congressional representatives know

that there are voters back home who care….

“To sum up, our own experience at Connecticut Natural Gas

indicates to me that district heating and cooling can have an excellent

future. Realization of the potential will require a continuing strong

effort to obtain favorable legislative treatment in Congress.

“Your Washington people certainly are making good progress in

this direction. I also urge that both through your association and

through individual localized efforts, you seek to develop better public

understanding of the environmental and economic benefits of district

heating and cooling….

“It has been a pleasure for me to meet with you, and I thank you

A Cooling Breakthrough

Excerpted from an editorial by IDHA’s Executive Director Norm Taylor, Third Quarter 1984 District Heating magazine.

“…. Why do we think district cooling is so important that we may even change IDHA to IDHCA – International District Heating and Cooling Association?

“Cooling has always been sort of a stepchild in the district heating ethic. Certainly we have kept statistics on cooling systems, and there is a hot and chilled water technical committee, but all in all it was generally something of an afterthought. It took a recent DOE study as to just how much cooling by chilled water distribution was in place in the U.S. It did not take much imagination to project that this was a fast growing market and that it fits very nicely with district heating and its full bore addition puts real meaning into district thermal systems.”

Editor’s Note 2009: Norm Taylor was diagnosed with cancer shortly after the third quarter 1984 issue was published. He formally submitted his resignation from IDHA in the fourth quarter 1984 issue, just as the organization officially changed its name to the International District Heating & Cooling Association. Taylor passed away in 1986. The Norman R. Taylor Award – IDEA’s person of the year – is named in his honor.