CENTRE HALL — A groundbreaking was held on Sept. 19 for the Centre Hall Natural Gas Project with the potential to connect nearly 100 businesses and residences to natural gas in Centre Hall and Potter Township through a partnership with the state of Pennsylvania, the SEDA-COG Natural Gas Cooperative, Hanover Foods Corporation and Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania.
The ceremony was held in the Tri-Municipal Park on Upper Brush Valley Road, which is near the connection point for gas lines that will run through Centre Hall and along Route 45 to the Hanover Foods plant. Businesses that will benefit from the project in and around Centre Hall include retail, commercial and industrial entities.
The station will reduce the pressure from gas in the transmission line to a lower pressure suitable for the Centre Hall delivery pipeline system. Columbia Gas will own and operate the station as well as the delivery system. It is expected to be completed and become operational in 2020.
The project was awarded a $1 million Pipeline Investment Program (PIPE) grant from the state Department of Community & Economic Development in January 2018. The grant will help to fund the construction of a $2.7 million point-of-departure station as the initial connection infrastructure needed to support further build-out by Columbia Gas, which is providing matching funds and services for the grant.
The groundbreaking was attended by representatives of Columbia Gas, the SEDA-COG Natural Gas Cooperative, Pennsylvania legislators, Centre County commissioners, the mayor of Centre Hall and several others.
Don Kiel, executive director of the SEDA-COG Natural Gas Cooperative, addressed the crowd, praising the level of cooperation between entities involved in the project.
“The project serves as a model for how local, regional, state and private sponsors and agencies can work together,” he said. He called the project “thinking outside the traditional box.” Kiel noted that many rural areas in central Pennsylvania do not have access to natural gas as an energy source, and this project will help to alleviate that problem in the Centre Hall area. He said that similar projects are pending in other areas of the state.
Centre Hall Mayor Ray Hankinson and Natural Gas Cooperative board member Ray Hankinson spoke, thanking Columbia Gas for providing the opportunity for homes and businesses in the Centre Hall area to receive natural gas for their energy needs. Other dignitaries present each spoke in turn, thanking all entities involved in the gas line project.
