DUNCANNON – The SEDA-COG Natural Gas Cooperative and Frontier Natural Resources will provide Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) to Pennsylvania Options for Wellness (PA Options) in the Perry Innovation Park in Perry County.

The availability of low-cost, cleaner natural gas to PA Options will provide significant cost savings and allow future expansion of operations to the licensed medical marijuana grower.

Thomas Trite, R.Ph., CEO of PA Options, said, “We are excited to partner with SEDA-COG and Frontier Natural Resources in utilizing a virtual pipeline to supply our Combined Heat and Power plant with LNG, a reliable fuel source, especially one coming from Pennsylvania. This was the best solution to overcoming a lack of energy at the Perry Innovation Park. The impact it will have on our operations and in turn the community in general cannot be overstated. LNG has been used as fuel for decades. Safe storage, safe transportation, and safe usage are the mandated requirements for any fuel and LNG continues to demonstrate a long track record of safety in all these three requirements.”

The cooperative and Frontier won a contract after responding to a Request for Proposal to provide LNG through a “virtual pipeline” vehicle-based delivery service starting next spring. The virtual pipeline approach allows liquefied natural gas to be provided to areas where no delivery pipeline infrastructure is available, offering a more energy-efficient option to businesses such as PA Options.

SEDA-COG Natural Gas Cooperative President Pete Smeltz said the PA Options initiative is the type of project the cooperative is ideally suited for supporting.

“Natural gas produced in Pennsylvania continues to be a viable clean energy source for existing businesses and new economic growth,” Smeltz said. “The PA Options project fulfills the cooperative’s objective of promoting use of this efficient energy source to regions in central Pennsylvania, and we are very pleased to partner with PA Options and Frontier Natural Resources in accomplishing this goal.”

PA Options, whose headquarters are in Harrisburg, collaborates in a research partnership with Penn State University College of Medicine. The university is a state-approved Academic Clinical Research Center and PA Options is a state-approved clinical registrant.

PA Options will provide funding to Penn State over 10 years to study health outcomes-based research and pre-clinical studies on the benefits of cannabinoids and medical marijuana. The College of Medicine will assist PA Options determine which types of marijuana extracts are best for health conditions. It initially will focus on pain management and anti-cancer research.

An expansion of LNG service also is planned to the remainder of the Perry Innovation Park through a standalone pipeline delivery network that may be developed. The cooperative will work with park owners and the Perry County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) on expansion plans.

Rich Pluta, president of the Perry County EDC, commented on the importance of having natural gas available for continued economic development at the Perry Innovation Park and in Perry County.

“This will be the first meaningful installation of natural gas in Perry County. Our goal has been to bring businesses into the park to create family-sustaining jobs. This project will eliminate a major barrier to development of the park that opened over 20 years ago,” Pluta said.

The SEDA-COG Natural Gas Cooperative is based in Lewisburg and was formed in 2016 to promote access and delivery of natural gas to unserved and underserved areas of central Pennsylvania. Sponsoring members of the cooperative are Centre, Clinton, Juniata, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Perry, and Union counties, and SEDA-Council of Governments (SEDA-COG).

Frontier Natural Resources is an independent oil and natural gas producer based in Bellefonte, with a primary focus on conventional and unconventional resources across the Appalachian Basin. Frontier is a pioneer in the innovative field of LNG production and delivers LNG at affordable prices from resources that have been previously inaccessible.

For more information, contact Cooperative Executive Director Don Kiel at dkiel@seda-cog.org or 814-553-8689.