Clarissa Brewster

Houston-based Thermal Energy Corporation (TECO) is the energy behind what’s next on the campus of the Texas Medical Center (TMC), the world’s largest medical city. TECO uses district energy and combined heat and power technologies to produce and pipe chilled water and steam to 24.3 million sq ft of space in 51 buildings at prestigious TMC institutions, e.g., MD Anderson Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine. Not-for-profit TECO makes cooling, heating, dehumidification, humidification, kitchen and lab sterilization, and cold rooms possible! TECO continues to grow right along with the medical center and named international district energy system of the year in 2019. TECO’s expansion included adding a 48 MW combined heat and power (CHP) unit and an 8.8 million-gallon thermal energy storage tank. CHP allows TECO to generate all of its own power at 80% efficiency versus 35% to 40% from traditional power generation, plus reduces demand on the overstressed electricity grid. The storage tank enables TECO to produce chilled water when it is most cost-effective and then use it when chilled-water production rates would be highest. TECO does its job so its customers can better focus on theirs: investing in state-of-the-art medical technologies and care instead of purchasing and running chillers or boilers. Dedicated to providing unparalleled service reliability, TECO helps ensure life-critical medical procedures, vital research and high-quality education may continue – no matter the weather, time of year or time of day. In 2019 TECO marked the 50th anniversary of system operation, as it traces its roots to Houston Natural Gas Corporation’s system startup in 1969. In the mid-1970s, TMC institutions formed the Thermal Energy Cooperative, later renamed Thermal Energy Corporation, which acquired the central plant and distribution system from the gas company in 1978.