Holyoke Gas & Electric

Holyoke Gas & Electric (HG&E), formally known as the City of Holyoke Gas & Electric Department (HGED), is a municipal electric, gas, and telecommunications utility primarily serving Holyoke and Southampton, Massachusetts, one of two in Massachusetts which provide all three services. Founded in 1902 with the purchase of gas and electric plants from the Holyoke Water Power Company, the municipal corporation launched its first fiber optics communications services in 1997, assumed full ownership of the Holyoke Dam and Canal System on December 14, 2001, and discontinued district steam service to conserve energy used in aging infrastructure in September 2010. Using hydroelectric power generation in tandem with a series of solar panel facilities, the utility has among the lowest rates in the Commonwealth, and as of 2016 between 85% and 90% of the city's energy output was carbon neutral, with administrative goals in place to reach 100% in the next decade.

In 2010, the utility worked with affiliate institutions Boston University, Harvard, MIT, Northeastern, and UMass to set up special infrastructure to power and connect the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center to a point of presence and the Internet2 network. Among its other initiatives the municipal utility worked with French multinational Engie in 2018 to create the largest energy storage facility in Massachusetts, reducing the need for peaking units and allowing more economical distribution of its portfolio of renewable hydroelectric and solar despite variations in generation and demand.

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References

External links
 Official site
 2018 Annual Report, Holyoke Gas & Electric Department

Category:1902 establishments in Massachusetts
Category:Municipal electric utilities of the United States
Category:Public utilities of the United States
Category:Telecommunications companies based in Massachusetts
Category:Companies based in Holyoke, Massachusetts
Category:Government of Holyoke, Massachusetts