• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Keyspan to Become Energy-Efficiency Adviser for the Boston Red Sox

Posted on: Friday, 30 September 2005, 00:00 CDT

By Peter J. Howe, The Boston Globe

Sep. 30--Boston Red Sox master groundskeeper Dave Mellor and his crew are landscaping legends for the way they keep Fenway Park green from April through October.

Now KeySpan Energy Delivery New England will be getting in on the act, working to turn Fenway into a "green" icon of energy efficiency. The 93-year-old ballpark could even become a showcase for solar power and innovative energy-conserving technologies.

Under a three-year sponsorship deal being made public today, KeySpan -- a Brooklyn, N.Y., energy conglomerate that owns the former Boston Gas Co. and serves 800,000 New England homes and businesses -- will become an energy-efficiency adviser for the Sox.

The baseball team already has an official electricity provider, Constellation Energy Group Inc. of Baltimore, which will continue. Constellation, KeySpan, and other businesses pay the Sox millions of dollars annually for sponsorship rights.

Sox and KeySpan officials only recently began discussing ways the utility could help improve the efficiency of Fenway heating and cooling systems. More immediately, KeySpan is also paying an unspecified sum to become the so-called presenting sponsor of this weekend's three-game, season-ending Red Sox-New York Yankees series.

Larry Lucchino, Red Sox chief executive, said in an e-mail, "To us, the climate of Fenway Park is very important, and to KeySpan, climate is important as well. This is an old park, but our goal is to give it new life in everything from seating areas to a better, more efficient environment."

Rick Murphy, vice president of sales and marketing for KeySpan New England, said beyond immediate energy-system upgrades at Fenway, the utility hopes to incorporate new energy technologies as the Sox spend $100 million redeveloping Fenway.

Seats and standing-room capacity will grow by 10 percent, to fit 39,900 fans. The Sox also plan to create meeting rooms that can be rented out year-round as a new revenue source.

The New York Times Co., which owns the Globe, holds a minority interest in the Sox.

Murphy said KeySpan will work with Sox engineering consultants SEi Cos. of Boston to see whether the revamped stadium could include such technologies as solar hot water systems and solar-powered electric space heaters.

KeySpan might also install super-efficient turbines that produce electricity, heat, and air conditioning from natural gas.

"The idea of getting a piece of Fenway Park, and all that represents to New England, and to make the Green Monster more green, that's the perfect example of what we are trying to do to promote and grow our energy-efficiency business," said KeySpan senior vice president David J. Manning.

KeySpan also owns electric and gas utilities on Long Island and in Brooklyn, but is only sponsoring the Sox-Yankees weekend matchup and not taking sides.

But in its corporate hometown, where the corporation began life as Brooklyn Union Gas Co. KeySpan chief executive Robert B. Catell was the driving force in bringing minor-league baseball back to Brooklyn five years ago.

The Single-A Brooklyn Cyclones play their home games at KeySpan Park.

-----

To see more of The Boston Globe, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.boston.com/globe.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Boston Globe

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

KSE, NYT,

Source: The Boston Globe

More News in this Category