Marquee Power

Theatre plant heats and cools over 1 million square feet in downtown Schenectady while reducing carbon footprint.

Proctors is one of the only performing arts center in the United States that heats and cools not only itself, but a major swath of the neighborhood it serves.

Marquee Power, launched in 2005 and located on the Proctors campus in Schenectady, is operated similarly to a co-op, with customers sharing maintenance costs while paying for the energy they use. The plant, built on the belief that “we are only as strong as our neighbors,” heats and cools Proctors, Center City, Transfinder, the Hampton Inn and the Parker Inn – serving over 25 businesses and organizations and over one million square feet of downtown Schenectady. During the winter, its snowmelt system keeps the sidewalks clear of ice and snow around the block.

Marquee Power, which is not a utility and does not sell electricity, directly impacts over 700,000 people each year and reduces the carbon footprint in downtown Schenectady by over 500 metric tons of CO2 annually. A 2014 expansion project, funded in part by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, included more efficient equipment and the connection of additional buildings to the system, reducing that footprint further.

NYSERDA selected Marquee Power as a model project because it combines multiple benchmarks and goals—reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, increased community resilience, energy efficiency, job growth and economic development.

District energy drastically reduces the total cost for heating and cooling by avoiding the need to purchase, replace or maintain individual systems for each building. By eliminating millions of dollars from the cost of constructing or redeveloping adjacent properties, Marquee Power has been essential to downtown revitalization.