UGI Brings Customers, Energy Leaders Together at Powering the Future

More than 100 customers, guests, and energy professionals gathered at UGI’s Learning Center in Berks County on May 15 for Powering the Future.

The forum was a half-day event focused on how Pennsylvania businesses can use affordable natural gas to meet growing energy needs.

Hosted by UGI, the event brought together customers, technology providers, and energy experts to explore practical on-site power solutions and discuss how businesses can respond to rising electric demand, reliability concerns, and cost pressures.

Dan Adamo, UGI’s Vice President of Customer Relations, opened the event by framing the opportunities and challenges facing Pennsylvania businesses.

“This isn’t business as usual, it is about what is next,” Adamo said. “The energy industry is evolving at a pace we haven’t seen before. New technologies are coming online, and customer needs are changing. Sustainability isn’t just a goal anymore. It is a competitive advantage.”

Brian Fitzpatrick of PJM Interconnection followed with a keynote on the pressures reshaping the regional grid and the role customer-sited energy solutions can play in helping businesses manage efficiency, resilience, and cost.

Two panel discussions gave attendees a closer look at both established and emerging technologies. Speakers discussed combined heat and power (CHP), microgrids, fuel cells, and linear generators, while also highlighting customer experiences, available rebates, and the growing range of options for producing energy on-site.

By bringing together a broad mix of voices and expertise, UGI helped deliver a timely and practical conversation about how customers can put Pennsylvania’s natural gas resources to work more directly and efficiently.

At Powering the Future, UGI gave customers a closer look at the technologies, economics, and real-world experiences shaping on-site energy decisions today. 

Through two panel discussions, attendees heard from grid experts, technology providers, end users, and UGI representatives about how natural gas can support efficient, reliable, and increasingly flexible energy solutions for businesses across Pennsylvania.

CHP, Microgrids, and Customer Experience

The first part of the program focused on established on-site power technologies and the factors customers should consider when evaluating them.

Eric Burgis of the Energy Solutions Center provided an overview of combined heat and power and microgrid technologies, while UGI’s Michael Schilthuis discussed rebate programs that can help reduce equipment costs and improve project economics.

Jay Pignatello of Enginuity Power Systems and Moe Barry of Kinsley Energy Systems then walked through how today’s CHP systems are sized, financed, and deployed.

Al Neuner, former Vice President of Facilities & Operations at Geisinger Health System and current chair of the West Penn Energy Fund, shared lessons from CHP installations at Geisinger’s Danville and Wyoming Valley campuses, including both financial and operational benefits.

Bob Ashton of Quaker Color added a customer perspective by describing how the Bucks County manufacturer integrated a hybrid solar and natural gas CHP system to strengthen resilience and lower operating costs.

Low Carbon Solutions

The second panel turned to next-generation, non-combustion technologies that are expanding the range of customer-sited power options. Danielle Ramaley of WATT Fuel Cell, an innovative Western Pennsylvania manufacturer of solid-oxide fuel cell systems, discussed small-scale applications of the company’s tubular, 3-D-printed fuel cells, including a major residential rollout in West Virginia.

Maryette Haggerty Perrault of Bloom Energy, a global leader in on-site fuel cell power, credited UGI’s fast gas service hookup with helping Coherent get its Bloom fuel cell project online ahead of schedule. Maddie Julian of Mainspring Energy rounded out the discussion with an introduction to the company’s linear generator, a distinctive technology designed to generate electricity through a low-temperature reaction rather than conventional combustion.

Together, the two panels reinforced the purpose of Powering the Future: to give customers practical insight into today’s proven energy technologies and the next generation of on-site solutions.

Powering the Future brought together a wide range of expertise, featured real-world examples, and helped customers better understand how to leverage affordable and cleaner natural gas to power their operations. UGI looks forward to continuing these conversations and helping additional customers identify innovative solutions for their energy needs.