JEA to cool new arena with chilled water
$30 million plants would feed downtown buildings

By David Bauerlein
Times-Union staff writer

After adding water and sewer to the JEA's growing portfolio of services in the Jacksonville area, the city-owned utility is getting into the air-conditioning business.

The JEA plans to spend $30 million for the construction of chilled water plants at the sports complex and at a downtown site. A third plant might also be built on the Northside.

The plants would chill water to 39 degrees and pump it into underground pipes to buildings, where the frigid water would flow through another set of pipes that cool air before it blows through vents. The water is then recirculated through the plant.

Turning cold water into cool air The JEA's water chiller plants will pipe the liquid to buildings for their air-conditioning systems. The water will return in pipes to the chiller plant, creating a continuous flow. Step 1: A huge compressor uses Freon to create a refrigeration effect for water, chilling it to 39 to 43 degrees within tanks. Step 2: Underground pipes carry the chilled water to a building. Step 3: The water flows through pipes inside the building, chilling the pipes. The building's air-conditioning system blows warm air over the cold pipes, and the pipes cool the air. Step 4: The air-conditioning system pumps the cool air through vents in the walls and ceilings of the building. Step 5: The water returns to the plant at a temperature of about 55 degrees and is chilled again for another trip through the pipes. Source: JEA

JEA officials say the cooling process will mean a break in the up-front cost for building owners because they won't have to install their own water-chilling equipment. Instead, owners can use the JEA's off-site facilities, provided they are close enough to tie into the system. The JEA has no plans at this time to offer the service in the suburbs.

"It saves money for the building customer and it makes money for us," said Jay Yarnell, director of rates and market development for the JEA. "It's a real win-win all around. It's good for the customers, it's good for the JEA, and it's good for the environment."

Chilled water is a new venture for JEA, which bolstered its core electric business in 1997 by taking over water and sewer service in most of Jacksonville. But utility companies elsewhere are already providing chilled water for air-conditioning, including in Orlando, Tampa and Miami.

The JEA waited until it had enough customers to recoup the construction cost. So for now, the utility is focusing mainly on Northbank, where City Hall has entered negotiations to be a cornerstone customer.

A chilled water plant planned for the sports complex will serve the new arena and baseball park, both slated toby summer 2003.

"We fully want to work with [JEA]," said Wayne Boy, the city's project manager for the arena and ballpark. "We've just got to make sure all the numbers work out."

Another potential customer for that plant is the Shipyards, where developers would use the JEA's the new process in the condominiums, office buildings and a hotel they want to build on the riverfront.

"It was an easy sell," said Ham Traylor, spokesman for Trilegacy, the real estate company behind the Shipyards.

He said Trilegacy will save $350,000 to $500,000 on the first stage of development, which involves 100 condominiums, by avoiding the cost of installing chilling equipment on site. For the entire Shipyards development, the savings will probably by 10 to 12 times that, Traylor said.

The JEA plans to build another chiller plant in the vicinity of the proposed new county courthouse. That plant also would connect to the new downtown library.

On the Northside, the JEA is considering a third plant to serve the planned Network Access Point -- a telecommunications network for the Internet -- that TeraSpace Networks plans to develop near Jacksonville International Airport.

"It's a definite maybe," Yarnell said. "Both sides are saying that's what they want to do, but we haven't worked out all the details or signed any contract yet."

All the plants will have room for expansion. For instance, the one at the sports complex will start with enough power for air-conditioning at the equivalent of 1,000 single-family homes and can be expanded to three times that amount, said Chuck Bond, a JEA project manager.

In Orange County, the locally owned utility, OUC, has followed a similar business plan for its chilled water service. OUC started in 1997 by building a plant for Lockheed Martin. OUC then expanded into downtown and at the Orange County Convention Center, setting the stage to market the program to the corridor of tourist-related businesses at Orange County's theme parks. Other customers include a condominium timeshare development and a shopping mall.

"It's a clear savings long-term and short-term," said OUC spokesman Sheridan Becht.

Tampa-based TECO Energy, whose principal subsidiary is Tampa Electric Co., also is active in the field. Itd a plant for Ybor City in Tampa in 1999, and yesterday TECO dedicated a newly expanded plant that the company bought in Miami.

JEA officials say the biggest risk in the chilled water business would be to build plants on "speculation" before getting enough customers lined up to support them. The benefit for building owners is greatest if they are about to construct a new project, replace aging chiller equipment on site, or expand chiller equipment.

The fact that City Hall has four new buildings set for construction in the coming years would give the JEA the breakthrough customers for the downtown plants, said Ken Chascin, product development coordinator for marketing strategy at JEA.

Staff writer David Bauerlein can be reached at (904) 359-4581 or via e-mail at dbauerlein.