History of District Heating in the United States

| Chronological List of District Heating Systems in the United States |

District Heating in Detroit, Michigan

Detroit has had two district heating systems. The first was the Detroit Steam Supply Company that was formed in September 1878 and began supplying steam on December 25th of that year. A fire on May 3, 1884 destroyed the company's plant, which was apparently not rebuilt and the company ceased operating.

The second system was started in 1903 by the Central Heating Company and a year later by the Murphy Power Company, both of which were bought by Detroit Edison in 1914. The system was very successful and was the second largest in the country in the late 1950s, when it sold 5.8 million mlbs of steam to 1,671 customers at an average cost of $1.31/mlb.

A decline in the city's fortunes was reflected in steam sales and the system was sold to Thermal Ventures II of Youngstown, Ohio in 2003 and renamed Detroit Thermal. The system has since been sold twice and n 2023 was reported to have 67 customers.

References
1878 "Detroit Steam Supply Company," September 27, 1878, Revised Ordinance of the City of Detroit (1890)

1878 Michigan Argus, November 25, 1878.
The Detroit Steam Supply Company, claiming to have improved on the Holly system which works so successfully at Lockport, N. Y., has commenced laying its mains. Its boiler house is located on Atwater street, midway between Woodward avenue and Griswold street, and the mains will run up Woodward avenue to Fort street, and up Griswold street to Lafayette avenue, with laterals. The boilers to be put in at the station named will have a capacity to supply the buildings within a radius of 2,500 feet, and if the experiment proves successful other boiler houses will be located at other points in the city. It is expected that steam will be furnished for heating and other purpose cheaper than private consumer can provide it on their own premises.

1878 "The Steam Supply Company," The Detroit Free Press, December 29, 1878, Page 1.
Detroit Steam Supply Company

1884 "The Distribution of Steam in Cities," by William P. Shinn, Vice President New York Steam Company, Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers 12:632-638 (February 1884) | also here |
Page 635: In Troy, N.Y., and Detroit, Mich., steam-plants have been in operation for three to four years; but I have no definite information as to their results.

1884 District steam supply : heating buildings by steam, from a central source, by James Herbert Bartlett | also here | reprinted in Scientific American Supplement 487:7772-7774 (May 2, 1885) | Tables |
Page 21: Detroit, not likely to prove a good investment..

1884 "The Fire," Detroit Free Press, May 4, 1884, Page 11.
The flames originated in the steam supply building.

1884 The Times Herald (Port Huron, Michigan), July 24, 1884, Page 2.
The Detroit Steam Supply Company are going out of business September 1. The enterprise has proved a failure financially and the company is notifying its patrons of its conclusion of business.

1889 The History of Detroit and Michigan: Or, The Metropolis Illustrated; a Full Record of Territorial Days in Michigan, and the Annals of Wayne County, Volume 1, by Silas Farmer
Pages 470-471: On September 12, 1878, the Detroit Steam Supply Company was organized, with a capital stock of $85,000. The company supplied steam either for power for heating purposes; it was generated in a series of ten boilers of one-hundred horse-power each, located on the corner of Atwater and Griswold Streets; four miles of iron pipes, covered with wood, conveyed the steam through various streets, and from them it supplied the customers. The company began to supply steam on December 25, 1878 and ceased to do so on September 1, 1884, the profits not warranting a continuance.

1890 "Steam Heating From Central Stations," Association of Edison Illuminating Companies 6:64-66 (September 1890)
Page 6: C. P. Gilbert, Secretary and Manager Edison Ill. Co., Detroit, Mich.
Page 65: Mr. Gilbert: Our station is now furnishing steam, and I find it very profitable. We are using live steam, but are preparing to utilize the exhaust steam.

1919 "Central-station heating in Detroit," by J. H. Walker, Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 41:209-238 (June 1919)

1946 District Heating Service in Detroit: A History of Description of the Central Heating System of The Detroit Edison Company , by Ernest E. Dubry (March 1946)

1951 District Heating Service in Detroit: A History of Description of the Central Heating System of The Detroit Edison Company , by Ernest E. Dubry (June 1951)

2003 "Detroit Steam system sold," Detroit Free Press, January 31, 2003, Page 22.

2003 Partnerships And Acquisitions ... Thermal Ventures II, March 3, 2003
Thermal Ventures II, LP, of Youngstown, Ohio, acquired the assets of the district steam heating system owned and operated by Detroit Edison that serves downtown Detroit. Thermal Ventures II has established a Michigan-based Detroit Thermal LLC, to own and operate the system. Thermal Ventures II operates district heating, cooling or both services in Youngstown and Akron, Ohio, Richmond and Martinsville, Va., and Orange County, Calif. The steam system has been in service since 1903 and currently serves 136 customers occupying 275 buildings in the downtown area.

2010 Detroit Thermal “Ties” Seven Wayne County Buildings Deep Underground With Innovation and $8 Million Contract, August 3, 2010

2010 Detroit Thermal Attracts $50 Million For Energy System, November 16, 2010

2012 "New Energy in the Motor City: Detroit legacy steam system helps renew city growth," District Energy 98(2):27-30 (Second Quarter 2012)

2017 "Basalt Infrastructure Partners and DCO Energy to Acquire Detroit Renewable Energy," July 21, 2017

2017 Energy co. Detroit Thermal transfers ownership, The Detroit News, November 30, 2017
Ownership of an energy company serving about 85 commercial and industrial customers in downtown Detroit has been transferred.

2022 Detroit Thermal, LLC Annual Report to Michigan Public Service Commission, May 31, 2022
Page 301-S: Steam Heating Revenues
                   Mlbs   Revenues Avg No. of Customers
Tariff Customers    272,510 $8,971,838   51
Special contracts 1,231,468 $25,429,320   18

2023 Steam Heat, Detroit Thermal, and Powering Greater Downtown Detroit, March 21, 2023

2023 Michigan Steam Supply Cost Recovery Report, May 3, 2023
Utilities that Provide Steam Service to Customers
DTE Electric Company 1 customer
Detroit Thermal LLC 67 customers
Lansing Board of Water and Light 155 customers
Vicinity Energy Grand Rapids 70 customers