Chesapeake Utilities has rapidly grown ever since it moved into its new headquarters off Del. Route 1. | PHOTO COURTESY OF CHESAPEAKE UTILITIES
DOVER — In 2016, Chesapeake Utilities Corporation was getting ready to transition its 850 employees out of its office on Queen Street in downtown Dover and onto a new campus off Delaware Route 1. At the time, the natural gas company had 60,000 customers in the Delmarva region and other accounts in Florida.
Fast forward to today — Chesapeake Utilities has grown its employee base by 50% and has 442,000 customers across nine territories. Its 20-acre campus at Energy Lane now includes warehouses for fleet services, natural gas car filling stations, loading docks, a “safety town” employee training center and more. Recently, the company acquired Florida City Gas, accelerating its customer base in the Sunshine State.
For Chesapeake Utilities Chief Financial Officer Beth Cooper, Florida is just one piece of its strategic growth plan — albeit a long-planned one.
“Chesapeake Utilities began operating in Florida in 1984 when it made its first acquisition in the state [Central Florida Gas Company]. The opportunities to enter the Florida natural gas market provided more opportunities to diversify our customer base and weather sensitivity,” Cooper told the Delaware Business Times. “Our strategy is focused on serving growing communities across [our footprint] which has been substantial.”
For example, Chesapeake utilities served 105,000 customers in Delaware and Maryland. That grew by 5.4% last year, reflecting growth at southern Delaware’s beaches and Middletown, as well as other areas of Kent and Sussex. In the last five years, the energy company bought out Elkton Gas in Maryland, purchased the propane operations of the Boulden Brothers, extended a gas line to Fenwick Island and Roxana and started work on a 448-mile pipeline that spans Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.
When it comes to Florida, Chesapeake Utilities bought Florida Public Utilities a quarter century after buying its first major asset. From there, the energy company partnered on a $65 million pipeline for northeast Florida, bought Western Natural Gas Company, bringing 4,000 more customers in the network, and received approval for another pipeline extension that is projected to bring 22,000 residences in the next 10 years. Florida natural gas business rose 3.9% in 2023.
“In all areas, this growth is primarily driven by residential population growth, the expansion of gas into new housing communities, and conversions to natural gas from other energy sources,” Cooper said. “We are also seeing significant customer demand in the commercial arena”
Even though the company relies on transitioning customers to natural gas, Cooper said that the company remains invested in a diversified portfolio that includes propane and transmission infrastructure investments.
Chesapeake Utilities also operates the Peninsula Pipeline in Florida, Aspire Energy in Ohio and the Eastern Shore Natural Gas Pipeline which was one of its first projects that started out of Bridgeville. The company is still seeking ways to expand that pipeline network to reach new markets.
Propane remains a top utility for rural residents and Chesapeake Utilities aims to serve them through its subsidiary Sharp Energy based out of Georgetown, and supported with recent acquisitions like Hernando Gas in Florida. Today, about 85,000 of Chesapeake Utilities’ customers are on propane. Programs like AutoGas also work to gas up school buses with propane, providing a cheaper option compared to diesel fuel.
Looking to the future, Cooper also noted that Chesapeake Utilities is starting to tap into the renewable energy market. The company is continuing to explore methods to turn poultry waste into natural gas.
The same process is already being used in Florida with dairy waste at its first biogas facility. It’s projected that this method will be able to capture and reuse 1,116 metric tons of methane per year — or the equivalent of carbon dioxide emissions of more than 3,500 homes.
When it comes to balancing Chesapeake Utilities’ steady growth in the Delaware region and beyond, Cooper said that many positions are open to remote work in markets, but delivery drivers and field technicians have to do their work “in office.” The company’s hybrid option that has been in place since the COVID-19 pandemic has helped “foster a culture that attracts, nurtures and retains highly-engaged employees.”
“We are honored to live, work and invest in a state full of so much opportunity,” she said. “We continue to see significant population growth in the state, which not only provides top talent for our team but also additional opportunities to enhance and expand our existing infrastructure to support the current and future generations of Delaware residents for years to come.”