Renewable natural gas plant opens at western Schuylkill County landfill

Published by Republican Herald - Michael Urban - 10.30.24

A plant converting methane from landfill emissions to renewable natural gas has opened in western Schuylkill County and will benefit both local utility customers and the environment, project leaders say.

The facility at the Commonwealth Environmental Systems landfill, which is located in Foster, Frailey and Reilly townships, went online in September and was unveiled during a press conference Tuesday.

The new plant is a result of a partnership between Archaea Energy, a subsidiary of international oil and gas company BP, which built and operates the facility, and Wyomissing-based UGI Energy Services, which is using the gas to supply homes through its area pipeline network.

The CES site is the only municipal waste landfill in Schuylkill County, and gas created by decomposing waste there is now being captured and processed in the plant, which treats the methane, carbon dioxide and other impurities into a pipeline quality form of natural gas.

The plant can process enough gas to heat more than 39,000 homes annually, according to Archaea officials.

Most of the gas will stay in Schuylkill County, where UGI has customers in numerous communities, including Pottsville, Schuylkill Haven and Frackville, said Joseph Hartz, president of UGI Energy Services.

Archaea Energy CEO Starlee Sykes said that Pennsylvania is a critical state for renewable natural gas technologies, and that this is the third such plant the company now operates in the state, following facilities in Lackawanna County and near Bethlehem, with more to come.

The Environmental Protection Agency has spoken in favor of renewable natural gas plants, saying that they can provide local air quality benefits and diversify domestic energy production.

Hartz said that the plant is benefitting communities by creating low carbon energy, finding a valuable use for landfill gas, and helping to fill the growing demand for renewable fuels.

Previously methane from the landfill had been processed in a different facility on the site and supplied to UGI, which used it to produce electricity for the power grid.

The new plant took about a year to build and employs six full-time technicians, said Steven Boor, Archaea's head of operations.

Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Chairman Stephen DeFrank praised the plant as an innovative way to create renewable energy from a byproduct once viewed as a nuisance.

"I think it's great," he said.

Schuylkill County Commissioner Barron L. "Boots" Hetherington said that while landfills aren't popular, they are necessary, and that the opening of the plant at the CES site gives the landfill an added value.

"This is the finest technology I've seen in a long time," he said. "This is a winner in every way."

Link to full article: Renewable natural gas plant opens at western Schuylkill County landfill - Pottsville Republican Herald

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