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Chronological List of District Heating
Systems in the United States |
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.
The system is currently owned and operated by Detroit Thermal
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| Current system map |
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| 1915 system map |
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| Buildings in Detroit served from the district heating system. (1932) | 1951 System Map |
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
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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
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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.
1915 District
Heating: A Brief Exposition of the Development of District Heating and
Its Position Among Public Utilities, by S. Morgan Bushnell and
Frederick Burton Orr
Page 5: In Detroit the heating business has been gradually extended and
was for years conducted by two companies, the Edison Illuminating Company,
of Detroit, and the Murphy Power Company. In the spring of 1914, a
consolidation of the two companies was effected giving the Edison
Illuminating Company of Detroit a total heating business of about 1,500
customers.
Page 13: The accompanying map showing the heating systems in Detroit,
indicates two systems of mains totaling in length about 100,000 ft.,
supplying about 1,500 customers with a total of 1,500,000 sq.ft. of
radiation. The accompanying map of the heating systems in Milwaukee shows
a system of mains having a total length of about 60,000 ft., to which is
already connected a half-million square feet of radiation.
Page 13: Map of system
1919 "Central-station heating in Detroit," by J. H. Walker, Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 41:209-238 (June 1919)
1932 Handbook
of the National District Heating Association
Pages 12-13: Detroit, Michigan.-The district-heating system in
Detroit is operated by The Detroit Edison Company and serves about 1900
customers through a distribution system consisting of 168,810 ft. of pipe
and 10,742 ft. of tunnel. The buildings which are served include large
office buildings, department stores, hotels, restaurants, and residences.
The steam is used for building heating, domestic water heating, and for
cooking and miscellaneous purposes. In 1930, 2,578,933,000 lb. of steam
were sold.
Four boiler plants are located at different points of the system with an
aggregate maximum output of 2,815,300 lb. of steam per hr. The system is
supplied by means of high-velocity lines feeding into important points of
the distribution network. Pressures at the point of delivery range from 5
to 30 lb.
In three of the four plants electricity is generated, there being a total
electric generating capacity of 11,300 kw., part of which is used for
supplying the boiler plant auxiliaries. Coal and ashes are handled by
motor trucks.
The heating service in Detroit is very popular, and nearly all buildings
within the district where service is available purchase steam.
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)
1951 District
Heating Handbook, Third Edition, National District Heating
Association
Pages 14-15: Detroit. The district heating system in Detroit is owned and
operated by The Detroit Edison Company. The distribution system delivers
steam to customers at pressures ranging from 12 to 35 psi. The mains are
supplied at strategic points by high-velocity feeders.
Four heating plants, located at various points on the system, are operated
at 150 psi and deliver steam directly to the distribution system.
Electrical generating equipment is installed in three of the plants
primarily to supply motor-driven auxiliary equipment. When more
electricity is generated than is needed for this equipment, it is fed into
the Company’s electrical system. In addition to these units, other small
turbogenerator units, ranging in size from 1,250 to 3,000 kw, have been
installed to deliver their entire electric output to the electrical system
while exhausting steam to the steam distribution system. During 1948 a net
of 15,197,200 kwhr was delivered to the electrical system.
The customers served by the Company range from the very largest department
stores, office buildings, hotels and hospitals to the very smallest shops.
Included among the larger customers are The J. L. Hudson Company
Department Store, the General Motors Building, the Fisher Building, Harper
Hospital, and Wayne University. The steam sold is used principally for
space heating and in a minor degree for cooking, water heating,
laundering, and other commercial processes. Little steam is used in
industrial processes primarily because of the absence of industrial
buildings within the area served.
When greater pressures than those available in the distribution system are
required, customers install electric-driven compressors which take the
steam as supplied and raise it to the pressure desired. This practice
permits operation of the distribution system at 30 psi or less.
The service in Detroit is highly popular. Practically all of the buildings
in the district use it and many have no boiler plants. The distribution
system covers the congested business area between the water front and
Grand Boulevard, an area 3¼ miles long and varying in width from one block
to nearly one mile.
The Detroit system is one of the largest supplied entirely by plants
erected and designed specifically for district heating. It is unique in
that velocities of over 75,000 fpm are reached in its high-velocity
feeders. These high velocity feeders permit the use of smaller pipes in
the main distribution network, and the fact that a large pressure drop is
allowed to take place in the feeders, also permits the use of smaller
feeder lines.
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.
2004 "Thermal
Ventures II," The Vindicator, July 17, 2004
The company that provides steam heat to downtown Youngstown expanded into
Detroit last year and is on the verge of growing again.
Youngstown-based Thermal Ventures II is studying more acquisitions and
plans to add a new system every year, said Jeff Bees, company president
and chief executive.
Bees declined to say anything about potential additions other than that
the company isn't afraid to take on systems that need new investment to
improve their operations and efficiency. Such deals take about a year to
review, he said.
Company history
The parent company of Youngstown Thermal has the money to buy other
heating systems because of a partnership created in 2000 with Yorktown
Energy Partners, a New York investment firm that handles endowment money
for some major universities.
Yorktown owns a controlling interest in Thermal Ventures II, which was a
new entity created for the purpose of expansion. Yorktown wanted to expand
its investments and liked the local company's expansion plans, Bees said.
Thermal Ventures II was created out of Thermal Ventures Inc., which was
founded by Carl Avers and Lewis Mahoney.
The original company remains but has moved its headquarters to Akron,
where it operates a steam heating system for much of downtown. Thermal
Ventures Inc. retains a minority ownership interest in Thermal Ventures
II.
Mahoney retired in 1999, but Avers continues as chairman of Thermal
Ventures Inc. Bees had been general manager of Youngstown Thermal and
Akron Thermal before being named the leader of Thermal Ventures II.
He said the agreement that created Thermal Ventures II gives it the option
to bring Akron Thermal under its umbrella, but it hasn't yet done that.
Preparation for growth
Avers said, however, that he intends for Thermal Ventures to grow and has
just created a management team of people in their mid-40s to lead the
company into the future. Avers, 66, said customers sign long-term
contracts for steam and want to have stable management in place when they
sign such deals.
The Akron company is looking to grow by taking over the heating systems
for large industrial plants in the region and throughout Ohio and western
Pennsylvania, he said. Thermal Ventures previously had ownership stakes in
downtown systems in Pittsburgh and San Francisco but sold those in 1999.
Meanwhile, Thermal Ventures II is looking to expand with more district
heating systems such as the ones in Youngstown and Detroit. Youngstown's
system serves about 50 customers, while Detroit's system has about 135
customers with 250 buildings.
Youngstown Thermal also has a cooling system with four customers.
Bees said now is a good time to grow because utilities that operate steam
systems around the country are reconsidering their investments in those
systems. Some utilities are preferring to invest in natural gas
exploration instead of upgrading steam systems because of the rising cost
of natural gas, he said.
In limbo
Thermal Ventures II also owns steam systems that heat two industrial
plants, although company officials are less interested in such systems
going forward, Bees said.
The future of both systems is up in the air, he said. One is at a
manufacturing plant in Tennessee, which may be closed by the manufacturer.
The other is at an industrial park in Virginia which has lost its largest
tenant.
Thermal Ventures II also is looking to sell two hotel heating systems it
owns in Orange County, Calif. It bought the systems in 2000 to serve
hotels that were expected to develop in the area. The development didn't
occur, so the company intends to sell the systems to owners of the hotels
where they are located, Bees said.
Thermal Ventures II, which has about $50 million in annual sales, has its
headquarters at Penguin Place at North Champion Street and East Rayen
Avenue. The former telephone company and university classroom building was
renovated by Leslie Cochran, former Youngstown State University president,
and his wife, Lin.
Thermal Ventures II has nine employees in the top floor of the building
and is trying to lease the bottom floor. The company has 120 employees
throughout all of its systems.
The Youngstown system has about six miles of steam lines that range in
diameter from three inches to 18 inches.
Youngstown Thermal's plant between Belmont and North avenues at the edge
of downtown uses coal to fuel boilers that make steam. Pressurized steam
is taken from the plant to the heating system of a building, where the
steam raises the temperature of a coil in a heat exchanger. The heat is
then distributed by ducts in the building.
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
© 2024-2026 Morris A. Pierce