United States edit

The Holly Steam Combination Company was the first steam heating company to commercially distribute district heating from a central steam heating system. As of 2013, approximately 2,500 district heating and cooling systems existed in the United States, in one form or another, with the majority providing heat.[1]

Major City Systems edit

City State System Name & Operator Notes
New York City New York Consolidated Edison of New York (Con Ed) operates the New York City steam system, the largest commercial district heating system in the United States.[2] The system has operated continuously since March 3, 1882 and serves Manhattan Island from the Battery through 96th Street.[3] In addition to providing space- and water-heating, steam from the system is used in numerous restaurants for food preparation, for process heat in laundries and dry cleaners, and to power absorption chillers for air conditioning.
Los Angeles California Enwave
Chicago Illinois Enwave
Las Vegas Nevada Enwave
Milwaukee Wisconsin We Energies operations base out of Valey Power Plant providing service to central business district since 1968.[1] The air quality in the immediate vicinity of the plant, has been measured with significantly reduce ozone levels. The 2012 conversion of the plant, which changed the fuel input from coal to natural gas, is expected to further improve air quality at both the local César Chavez sensor as well as Antarctic sensors [2]. Interesting to note about Wisconsin power plants is their dual use as breeding grounds for peregrines [3].
Detroit Michigan Hamtramck Energy Services (HES) started operation at the Willis Avenue Station in 1903.
Seattle Washington
Houston Texas Enwave
New Orleans Lousiana Enwave
Portland, OR Oregon Enwave
San Francisco California NRG Energy NRG Energy [4]
Harrisburg Pennsylvania NRG Thermal
Minneapolis Minnesota [[NRG Energy | NRG Thermal]
Omaha Nebraska NRG Therm
Pittsburgh Pennsylvania NRG Thermal
San Diego California NRG Thermal
Denver Colorado Xcel Energy Denver's district steam system is the oldest continuously operated commercial district heating system in the world. It began service November 5, 1880 and continues to serve 135 customers.[5] The system is partially powered by the Xcel Energy Zuni Cogeneration Station, which was originally built in 1900.[6]
Boston Veolia Energy Veolia Veolia Energy, a successor of the 1887 Boston Heating Company,[7] operates a 26-mile (42 km) district system in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts Philadelphia PA
Baltimore Marylandd
Kansas City MO MO
Tulsa OK
Houston TX
Sacramento Califronia California Depertment of General Service
Saint Paul

On July 18, 2007, one person was killed and numerous others injured when a steam pipe exploded on 41st Street at Lexington.[8] On August 19, 1989, three people were killed in an explosion in Gramercy Park.[9] The Holly Steam Combination Company was the first steam heating company to commercially distribute district heating from a central steam heating system. As of 2013, approximately 2,500 district heating and cooling systems existed in the United States, in one form or another, with the majority providing heat.[10]

  • Lansing Board of Water and Light, a municipal utility system in Lansing, Michigan operates a heated and chilled water system from their existing coal plant. They have announced their new natural gas cogeneration plant will continue to provide this service.
  • Cleveland Thermal operates a district steam (since 1894) from the Canal Road plant near The Flats and district cooling system (since 1993) from Hamilton Avenue plant on the bluffs east of downtown.
  • Fort Chicago Energy Partners L.P. operate district heating/co-generation plants in Ripon, California and San Gabriel, California.[11]
  • District Energy St. Paul operates the largest hot water district heating system in North America and generates the majority of its energy from an adjacent biomass-fueled combined heat and power plant. In March 2011, a 1 MWh thermal solar array was integrated into the system, consisting of 144 20' x 8' solar panels installed on the roof of a customer building, RiverCentre.
  • The California Department of General Services runs a central plant providing district heating to four million square feet in 23 state-owned buildings, including the State Capitol, using high-pressure steam boilers.[12]

Historically, district heating was primarily used in urban areas of the US, but by 1985, it was mainly used in institutions.[13] A handful of smaller municipalities in New England maintained municipal steam into the 21st century, in cities like Holyoke, Massachusetts and Concord, New Hampshire, however the former would end service in 2010 and the latter in 2017, attributing aging infrastructure and capital expenses to their closures.[14][15][16] In 2019 Concord, replaced a number of remaining pipes with more efficient ones for a smaller steam system heating only the State House and State Library, mainly due to historic preservation reasons rather than a broader energy plan.[17]

 
The interior of the BGSU Heating Plant

District heating is also used on many college campuses, often in combination with district cooling and electricity generation. Colleges using district heating include the University of Texas at Austin; Rice University;[18] Brigham Young University;[19] Georgetown University;[20] Cornell University,[21] which also employs deep water source cooling using the waters of nearby Cayuga Lake;[22] Purdue University;[23] University of Massachusetts Amherst;[24] University of Notre Dame; Michigan State University; Eastern Michigan University;[25] Case Western Reserve University; Iowa State University; University of Delaware;[26] University of Maryland, College Park [citation needed], University of Wisconsin–Madison,[27] and several campuses of the University of California.[28] MIT installed a cogeneration system in 1995 that provides electricity, heating and cooling to 80% of its campus buildings.[29] The University of New Hampshire has a cogeneration plant run on methane from an adjacent landfill, providing the University with 100% of its heat and power needs without burning oil or natural gas.[30] North Dakota State University (NDSU) in Fargo, North Dakota has used district heating for over a century from their coal-fired heating plant.[31]

  1. ^ "Why Is District Energy Not More Prevalent in the U.S.?". HPACEngineering. Informa. June 7, 2013. Archived from the original on March 26, 2018. {{cite magazine}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); line feed character in |archive-date= at position 6 (help)
  2. ^ "Con Ed Steam". Energy.rochester.edu. Archived from the original on 2007-09-21. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
  3. ^ "A Brief History of Con Edison". Con Edisonaccessdate=2014-05-04. Archived from the original on 2015-11-14.
  4. ^ "District energy | combined heat and power plants | NRG Energy Corporation". Nrgthermal.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-25. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
  5. ^ Jan Wagner; Stephen P. Kutska (October 2008). Monica Westerlund (ed.). "DENVER'S 128-YEAR-OLD STEAM SYSTEM: "THE BEST IS YET TO COME"". District Energy. 94 (4): 16–20. ISSN 1077-6222.
  6. ^ "TemplatePowerplant". Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010. Plant Description: ... The facility also supplies steam for delivery to Xcel Energy's thermal energy customers in downtown Denver. ... Plant History: Zuni Station was originally built in 1900 and called the LaCombe Plant.
  7. ^ "Theodore Newton Vail and the Boston Heating Company, 1886–1890". Energy.rochester.edu. Archived from the original on 2009-07-18. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
  8. ^ "Explosion rocks central New York". BBC News. July 19, 2007. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  9. ^ Barron, James (July 19, 2007). "Steam Blast Jolts Midtown, Killing One". The New York Times. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  10. ^ "Why Is District Energy Not More Prevalent in the U.S.?". HPACEngineering. Informa. June 7, 2013. Archived from the original on March 26, 2018.
  11. ^ [4] Archived August 11, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ "SACRAMENTO CENTRAL UTILITY PLANT – CASE STUDY" (PDF). Alerton.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  13. ^ District Heating and Cooling in the United States: Prospects and Issues. National Research Council. 1985. doi:10.17226/263. ISBN 9780309035378.
  14. ^ Brooks, David (May 27, 2017). Concord Monitor. Concord, N.H. https://web.archive.org/web/20190928221639/https://www.concordmonitor.com/concord-steam-history-9673675. Archived from the original on September 28, 2019. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ^ City of Holyoke Energy Reduction Action Plan (PDF) (Report). May 14, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 1, 2017.
  16. ^ Moore, David (2002). Holyoke Gas & Electric Department, 1902–2002, The First One Hundred Years (PDF) (Report). Holyoke Gas & Electric. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-01-09.
  17. ^ Brooks, David (April 3, 2019). "Replacing Concord Steam with new pipes continues to snarl downtown traffic". Concord Monitor. Concord, N.H. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019.
  18. ^ "Energy Consumption - Sustainability at Rice University". sustainability.rice.edu. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  19. ^ "BYU Central Utilities Plant". apmonitor.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  20. ^ "Energy and Climate". sustainability.georgetown.edu. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  21. ^ "Combined Heat and Power Plant". energyandsustainability.fs.cornell.edu. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  22. ^ "Custom content goes here". energyandsustainability.fs.cornell.edu. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  23. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-25. Retrieved 2013-12-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. ^ "UMass Amherst Dedicates $133 Million Central Heating Plant, Showcasing Green Energy Achievements on Campus". News & Media Relations. University of Massachusetts Amherst. April 23, 2009. Archived from the original on October 28, 2019.
  25. ^ "Eastern Michigan University: Physical Plant". www.emich.edu. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  26. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2015-08-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  27. ^ "Heating & Cooling Plants – Physical Plant – UW–Madison". physicalplant.wisc.edu. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  28. ^ "University of California cogeneration plant gets its power back". Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  29. ^ "MIT students seek to harness waste heat – MIT News Office". Web.mit.edu. 2008-07-24. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
  30. ^ [5] Archived July 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  31. ^ "Heating Plant". www.ndsu.edu. Retrieved 18 March 2018.