A century-old bearing manufacturer in Northeast Philadelphia is getting federal help to build the next generation of parts for the nation's hydroelectric dams. Kingsbury, Inc., based on Drummond Road, has landed a new research partnership with a national laboratory aimed at making its hydropower bearings tougher as power plants are pushed to switch on and off more often to balance the grid.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced the partnership between Kingsbury and Oak Ridge National Laboratory on October 5, 2026, pairing the Philadelphia manufacturer with federal researchers in Tennessee, according to WHYY. The collaboration is part of Round 2 of the Department of Energy's Hydropower Testing Network program, which selected 14 technology projects nationwide to begin negotiations for vouchers, with project matches and vouchers pending those negotiations, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Kingsbury is continuing work from HyTN's first round alongside Oak Ridge, per the Department of Energy.
A Philadelphia Invention Still Running the Nation's Dams
Kingsbury has manufactured the bearings used inside hydroelectric power plants for more than a century, according to WHYY's reporting. The bearings work by floating a thin film of oil between large metal discs to reduce friction. Kingsbury has worked in bearing technology since 1912. The company is based at its Drummond Road facility in Northeast Philadelphia.
Kingsbury bearings have also been used at Lancaster County's Holtwood Hydroelectric Station. Kingsbury also builds equipment for the U.S. military, including parts for Navy warships, per WHYY.
Why Hydropower Bearings Are Under More Stress Than Ever
Hydroelectric power is a flexible resource, able to adjust its output to the grid more easily than other sources, WHYY reports. Hannah Wiseman told the outlet that hydropower operators can ramp output up or down based on electricity demand and the fluctuating supply of wind and solar power, calling hydroelectric power very important to the modern electric grid. But that flexibility comes at a mechanical cost: dams are increasingly asked to operate intermittently, and that stop-and-start cycling causes more wear and tear on traditional equipment than steady operation does.
That is the problem Kingsbury and Oak Ridge are now targeting. The partnership will focus on testing a thermoplastic polymer for hydroelectric bearings, the Department of Energy's testing network notes. Audrey Robertson said large new hydropower innovations are difficult to test and that the partnership can expedite innovation from idea to manufacturing to deployment, according to WHYY. Mike Brawley said the collaboration will improve Kingsbury's ability to test the longevity of its designs, adding that the company is proud to have helped expand hydropower.
Hydropower's Outsized Role Despite a Small Slice of the Grid
Hydropower accounts for just under 6% of U.S. electricity generation, with Washington, California, and Oregon producing half of the nation's total, per WHYY's report. In Pennsylvania, hydroelectric power supplies only around 1% of electricity, with the state's generation mix dominated by natural gas.
Even so, Pennsylvania still hosts 19 operating utility-scale hydroelectric power plants with a combined capacity of 2,429 megawatts, led by the 1,072-megawatt Muddy Run Pumped Storage Facility in Lancaster County, according to energy tracking data compiled by Cleanview. Nationally, pumped storage hydropower facilities account for approximately 96% of U.S. energy storage capacity, according to FDE Hydro, underscoring why keeping aging components like bearings reliable matters well beyond the plants that use them.
An Aging Fleet Drives the Push for Durable Parts
The federal interest in sturdier hydropower components comes as the nation's hydroelectric infrastructure grows older. Federal and industry analyses report that the average age of the more than 2,000 operational U.S. hydroelectric dams exceeds 60 years, according to FDE Hydro. The Department of Energy has said it aims to both increase energy production from hydropower and maintain and upgrade existing plants, goals that have translated into direct federal funding for infrastructure upgrades.
The Hydropower Testing Network voucher program is administered in partnership with ENERGYWERX under a partnership intermediary agreement; ENERGYWERX reimburses voucher providers, which are testing facilities, for completed work, according to the program's listing on ENERGYWERX. For a Northeast Philadelphia company whose bearings have been quietly spinning inside American dams for well over a hundred years, the federal backing offers a path toward keeping that legacy running as the grid itself keeps changing.
