Cordia acquires Duquesne University’s power plant distribution system assets
Image: Cordia Energy
Call it a power play move. Duquesne University said it has finalized the sale of its thermal energy plant distribution system assets to Phoenix-based Cordia for $50 million and entered into an amended 35-year energy service agreement.
The deal is subject to regulatory approval, the university said. The assets include pipes, electrical lines and meters.
“Cordia is an industry leader with vast experience building, owning, operating and financing thermal energy plants across the U.S.,” Matt Frist, senior vice president for finance and business at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Duquesne, said in a statement. “This expanded arrangement is a natural extension of our existing partnership and continues our efforts to privatize operations that are not central to our work and allow Duquesne to focus its resources on its core mission of educating students.”
In 2019, Duquesne sold its district energy cogeneration utility plant to Cordia, then known as Clearway Energy, for $102 million and entered into a 40-year energy services agreement, through which Cordia provides all of the university’s steam, chilled water, compressed air and a majority of its electricity to campus facilities, and operates and maintains the plant distribution system.
Cordia serves more than 700 customers across the country, including major customers in downtown Phoenix such as Phoenix Convention Center and Chase Field.
The company relocated its headquarters to the CityScape development in downtown Phoenix in October 2022 after it was spun off from New Jersey-based Clearway Community Energy. Clearway sold its thermal assets, including its system in downtown Phoenix, to private equity firm KKR.
The strategic partnership created an arrangement that interconnected Duquesne’s district energy system to Cordia’s existing Uptown district energy system. The connection made operating both facilities more efficient and reduced risk through redundancy if either system is required to temporarily cease operations for maintenance or other reasons. It also allowed Duquesne to monetize excess steam capacity produced by the plant on campus, unlocking additional economic value for the university over the life of the agreement.
In 2022, Duquesne expanded the partnership by entering into a new steam line interconnection agreement and a perpetual easement agreement that allowed for the installation and maintenance of steam pipes. The steam pipes are owned and operated by Cordia and tie into the interconnection to provide steam and related services to Cordia’s customers in more than a dozen buildings in downtown Pittsburgh.