PGW could explore clean energy with geothermal pilot project at Philly’s McCloskey Elementary School

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Philadelphia Gas Works will study the feasibility of a geothermal system to heat and cool an elementary school and recreation center in Northwest Philadelphia without planet-warming gas.

The city-owned gas utility described the project as a way to keep the company financially strong in the long term and deliver on the mayor’s vision for a cleaner and greener Philadelphia. 

“Launching a feasibility study for geothermal in collaboration with the School District of Philadelphia is a critical step in the near term to identify strategies to help diversify the revenue of PGW, sustain jobs, reduce emissions and offer customers a variety of cost-saving energy efficiency options,” said PGW President and CEO Seth Shapiro in a statement.

PGW published a request for proposals Monday, seeking a consultant to produce a site survey, feasibility study and conceptual designs for a closed-loop geothermal system that would support multiple heat pumps for heating and cooling the Dorothy Emanuel Recreation Center and neighboring John F. McCloskey Elementary School in East Mount Airy. The project is a partnership with the School District of Philadelphia.

Dozens of large buildings and homes in the region — including the Ronald McDonald House in North Philadelphia, the city’s police academy, New Jersey’s Stockton University and the German Society of Philadelphia —  already use networked geothermal, which takes advantage of the stable, approximately 55 degrees Fahrenheit temperature deep underground to efficiently heat and cool indoor spaces.

For years, climate and health advocates have pushed PGW to diversify its business model and transition away from natural gas, which produces climate-warming pollution when burned. Natural gas used for heating, cooking and running other appliances was the leading source of climate pollution from Philly homes in the city’s last emissions inventory.

“We’ve been advocating for geothermal energy for a long time as part of the collection of sustainable responses that ensure good union jobs,” said Linnea Bond, health and environmental education director for Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania. “We’re pleased to see that they’ve issued the RFP.”

Philadelphia Gas Works has agreed to explore how to reduce its carbon footprint as part of the city’s overall goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. In a press release, the company said the feasibility study is part of its efforts to expand its clean energy portfolio, lower its emissions and evaluate its role in “delivering innovative energy services in addition to natural gas in the future.”

Geothermal was one of three options identified for further investigation in a 2021 PGW Business Diversification Study, which aimed to tackle the difficult question of how the city can meet its climate goals while also owning a fossil fuel company that provides heating and cooking gas to about 500,000 city residents, a significant portion of whom live below the federal poverty level.

The feasibility study PGW is embarking on now was first funded in the company’s operating budget for fiscal year 2023.  

“I have a lot of excitement about geothermal because it has this dual purpose of both heating and air conditioning …  as well as continuing to involve good labor jobs,” Bond said.

While the technology is not new, it is gaining traction as an alternative to natural gas and oil-fired boilers. Geothermal ground source heat pumps take advantage of the consistent temperature in the bedrock, which is typically a steady 55 degrees Fahrenheit. While the air may be 100 degrees on the surface, that bedrock temperature will remain 55 degrees.

The upfront costs are expensive, with the largest investment in drilling wells far enough into the ground where a series of vertical U-shaped pipes are installed to carry water in a closed loop system from the surface to the bedrock. The water flowing through those pipes is in the ground long enough to reach about 55 degrees. This makes use of the heat pump much more efficient to cool or heat a building without the need for a carbon-emitting natural gas boiler and pipeline system. And once it is installed, monthly heating and cooling bills consist only of the electricity cost to run the heat pump.

A public school and rec center to serve as the test site

The primary site for the study is the Dorothy Emanuel Recreation Center and neighboring John F. McCloskey Elementary School, which sent students home early at the beginning of the school year last summer because it did not have adequate air conditioning. The RFP directs the consultant to evaluate Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet High School in Upper Roxborough for a similar system if the primary site turns out to be infeasible.

“How can you learn if you are being roasted?” Bond said. “So, [this project] is moving us forward in multiple ways, because we really need to get air conditioning into these schools like yesterday.”

The feasibility study will consider factors such as the energy needs for the buildings, the geological conditions at the site and the surface space available to drill for underground bores. The RFP directs the contractor to produce 30% design drawings, including conceptual layouts for the boreholes, piping and heat pumps, as well as estimates for the cost, energy savings and environmental benefits.

PGW is looking for a geothermal system design that could be expanded in the future.

“The geothermal system design should allow for future scalability, ensuring that additional buildings or systems can be integrated into the loop if opportunities arise,” the RFP reads. “The feasibility study should evaluate how the system could be networked with future geothermal installations within the district or adjacent properties.”

The RFP calls for the study to be completed within six months of the contract being signed.

Jordan Teicher, a member of the Philadelphia chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America who has been pushing PGW to diversify its business model, said the proposed study is a good step in the right direction, but long overdue.

“I don’t know why it took so long to get to this point,” he said. “We have no time to lose when it comes to addressing the climate crisis.”

Teicher worries that even if the study shows a geothermal system is feasible at the site, it could take years for the system to be built, if it’s built at all.

“I think we need some guarantees,” he said. “I’d like them to move into actually installing this technology, and then from there rapidly expanding geothermal across the city — alongside coming up with a plan to entirely decarbonize — as soon as possible.”

PGW declined to make an official available for an interview about the project. Spokesperson Dan Gross also declined to answer questions about potential implementation of the geothermal system and how the feasibility study could inform PGW’s broader business planning, saying without the results of the study, those answers would be “premature.”

“There is no silver bullet to meet a clean energy vision; it will take a multifaceted approach,” Shapiro said in a statement. “We value our customers and take seriously our responsibility to pursue innovation that benefits their safety and affordability and helps lay the foundation for the future.”