D.C. rules out a gas power plant at RFK but says the Commanders’ stadium will need gas for a time

By Staff Reporter

WASHINGTON — The District government said Wednesday that it will not build a gas-fired power plant on the RFK Stadium campus, but officials acknowledged that the Washington Commanders’ new stadium will likely need natural gas for heating and kitchens for a time because Pepco cannot promise enough electric capacity before the building has to start testing its systems in April 2028.

“There is no need for, nor will there be, a natural gas-fired power plant at the RFK campus,” the RFK Project Management Office said in a statement to WUSA9, hours before environmental groups and Kingman Park residents rallied near the site.

The city told The Well News that Pepco cannot guarantee enough electrical infrastructure to fully power the stadium by April 2028 and that limited natural gas service will be needed for specific heating and kitchen systems until capacity is upgraded. The stadium is due to open in 2030, a date officials have tied to bids for the 2031 Women’s World Cup and the Rugby World Cup, WUSA9 reported.

“We are working closely with utility providers, the Washington Commanders, and other project partners to ensure the energy infrastructure needed to support the project is in place,” the project office said, according to The Well News.

What the law says

The District’s 2022 Clean Energy DC Building Code law directs the mayor to bar on-site fuel combustion for heat in new commercial construction, and says no permit application filed after Dec. 31, 2026, for a new covered building may be approved if its design uses on-site combustion for space or water heating, according to the D.C. Code. The Council’s RFK legislation, D.C. Law 26-54, requires the developer to build and maintain the stadium in a manner “feasibly consistent with the objective” of LEED v5 Platinum, the U.S. Green Building Council’s top rating.

The Commanders plan to ask for an exemption from the gas ban “in the coming weeks,” Brian Hanlon, the D.C. Department of Buildings director who manages the RFK project for Mayor Muriel Bowser, told the Council at a Sept. 30 oversight hearing, The 51st reported. Such requests go to the Green Building Advisory Council for a recommendation, with the final decision resting with the Department of Energy and Environment, the outlet reported.

Hanlon told the Council that a gas plant was “not under consideration,” but he also said the city had listed natural gas as a potential option when it sought proposals from energy developers, and that Pepco’s nearby substation lacks the capacity to fully power the stadium without some on-site generation, according to The 51st.

Council skepticism

Council Chair Phil Mendelson called it “premature” for the team to seek an exemption before an energy master plan is finished. “Why would they go to GBAC now and ask for an exemption when they don’t know if they need one?” he told The 51st. Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, who chairs the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, has questioned the team’s power estimates and suggested battery storage as backup power, the outlet reported.

At Wednesday’s rally, Alexis Pazmino, president of the Friends of Kingman Park Civic Association, said, “Our families don’t want dirty gas sending them to an early grave from the air here at RFK,” WUSA9 reported. Mark Rodeffer of the Sierra Club’s D.C. chapter pointed to the $1.1 billion in public money committed to the project. “If the D.C. government is subsidizing a new building, it has to use clean energy,” he said.

The Commanders said in a statement that they continue to look for ways to make the stadium “as efficient as possible,” WUSA9 reported. The team has cited a planned ice thermal energy storage system, solar panels and water reuse, according to The Well News.

What comes next

The question may land with a new administration. Ward 3 Councilmember Matthew Frumin suggested at the September hearing that the current administration might want to secure a waiver before the next mayor takes office, The 51st reported. Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George, the Democratic nominee in the Nov. 3 mayoral election, has been more critical of the RFK project than Bowser.

The Inquisitor asked the Department of Buildings, the Department of Energy and Environment, the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, Allen and Ward 7 Councilmember Wendell Felder how long gas service would be needed, whether an exemption request has been filed and what Pepco upgrades are planned. This story will be updated with any responses.

Photo: RFK Stadium in 2015, on the campus where the Commanders’ new stadium is planned. Duane Lempke / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0.