coal-fired power plant.
Susquehanna, which was founded in 1858 as the Missionary Institute of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, is a residential liberal arts college with an enrollment of about 2,200. It is situated on 325 acres near the Susquehanna River about 50 miles north of Harrisburg. It is one of about fifty colleges in the United States with coal power plants on campus.
Coyne said the decision to undertake the $6 million project to switch to natural gas was made after a five year process which included "extensive research by the university and extensive dialogue with the university's sustainablity committee." He indicated that the university had considered wind and solar but that "either option would add thousands of dollars to each student’s bill."
The power plant, which burns about 2,800 tons of coal per year, will close in one to two years and with it seven jobs at the plant will also be eliminated. Coyne said that he personally informed the seven that they would lose their jobs.
In 2011, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) released a report "Going Underground on Campus: Tapping the Earth for Clean, Efficient Heating and Cooling." The report documented more than 160 colleges and universities in 42 states and illustrates how campuses are tapping into the benefits of geothermal energy and underground architecture to cut energy use for heating and cooling by 30 to 70%, while substantially reducing greenhouse gas pollution.
“Buildings are the largest energy users on most campuses, yet few clean, renewable energy systems can compete as affordably or sustainably as geothermal systems, specifically for heating and cooling, which account for 40-50% of a building’s total energy costs and pollution,” said Julian Keniry, director of Campus Ecology at NWF. Susquehanna's Coyne did not say if geothermal was considered.
Susquehanna's switch to natural gas comes as prices for the fuel are near record lows due in part to hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, of the Marcellus Shale in western and northern Pennsylvania which is causing a glut of natural gas because of the low royalties, relatively low taxes on drillers, and favorable geology. Susquehanna is located about 40 miles south of Williamsport which is the hub of fracking operations in north-central Pennsylvania.
In July 2011, Susquehanna announced that it earned silver-level LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for its $25 million Science Building. The three-story, 81,000-square-foot facility, opened for classes in March 2010.