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Chronological List of District Heating
Systems in the United States |
The Brandeis family built a large new department store that opened in late 1906. The building included a heating plant in the basement was served the department store and several other nearby buildings. A new heating plant was built in 1915 and included all of the old machinery plus a new boiler. The heating plant was serving 21 buildings in 1944.
The Northern Natural Gas Company entered the heating and cooling business in 1967 with a new plant at 23rd and Howard. Northern also agreed to buy the existing Brandeis steam network. The local system was renamed the Energy Systems Company in 1980 as a subsidiary of Northern Natural Gas, which was bought by Enron and sold in 1985 to Todd Johnson. The system was sold in 2013 to NRG Energy, which became Clearway Energy in 2018 and was in turn bought by Cordia Energy in 2022.
References
1914 "Central
Heating for Public Buildings," Omaha World-Herald, March 22,
1914, Page 29.
The Brandeis heating plant heats practically two solid blocks, including
the Brandeis stores, Brandeis theater building, Boston store, Courtney's,
American theatre, Empress theater, Wroth's cafe building and will the
Saunders-Kennedy building.
1915 "Will
Start Brandeis Building on June 1," Omaha Daily News, May
10, 1915, Page 2.
The Brandeis interests will begin razing the old First Presbyterian church
building on June 1, preparatory to erection of a new three-story building
for the Brandeis heating plant and store rooms.
George Brandeis today said all engines, boilers. and machinery in the new
store building will be moved to the church site structure and that a new
boiler, will be purchased. This will give 14.000 square feet of selling
space on the basement floor of the store and 4,000 square feet on the
first floor. New departments will be added.
1917 Heating
and Ventilating Magazine, 14(3):76 (March 1917)
With the temperature down as far as 23 degrees below zero, it is stated
that the Brandeis heating plant, in Omaha, which supplies heat to 15
buildings, was not extended to more than two-thirds of its capacity. The
plant is located at Seventeenth and Dodge Streets and includes five
boilers of 400 h.p. each.
1918 Baist's
real estate atlas of surveys of Omaha, Nebraska
Plate 2: Brandeis buildings and others
1944 "National
Labor Relations Board v. J.L. Brandeis & Sons," Circuit Court of
Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, 145 F.2d 556 (8th Cir. 1944), November 6,
1944.
A slow-down strike in a heating plant of a company affiliated with
respondent was called in January, 1943, by an engineers' union, which
resulted in shutting off the heat from respondent's store and twenty-one
other downtown buildings, and a sit-down strike of elevator operators in
two downtown office buildings not affiliated with respondent was called.
In February, 1943, the heat in respondent's store was again turned off and
the operators of the elevators in the office building which also gave
elevator service to respondent's store walked out.
1966 "Downtown Heating, Cooling Plant," Omaha World Herald, October 16, 1966, Page 9-C.
1967 "Steam
Lines Deal Sought," Omaha World Herald, January 12, 1967, Page 47.
Northern would buy Brandeis system
1967 "New Total Energy System in Omaha, Nebraska," District Heating 53(2):64,66 (Fall 1967)
1994 "Outsourcing
Heating and Cooling: In Omaha it's the wave of the past," District
Heating and Cooling 79(4):12-21 (Second Quarter 1994)
But gradually, we expanded our underground pipeline, connecting our
facilities to an old steam plant that had provided heating for 17 other
buildings."
Energy Systems then hooked up its system to police and Union Pacific
headquarters, a department store that heated five other structures, the
YMCA and Creighton University - a major Catholic institution that had 20
buildings, including two new hospitals, to heat and cool.
2018 Clearway
Energy Group Launches Operations, September 4, 2018
Clearway is one of the largest clean energy companies in the United
States. The company is comprised of the workforce and capabilities from
NRG’s industry-leading renewable energy development and operational
platform. Clearway will continue to be affiliated with NRG Yield, Inc.,
which has announced that it will change its name to Clearway Energy, Inc.,
effective today, August 31, 2018.
2022 Clearway
Energy, Inc. Closes Sale of Thermal Business, May 2, 2022 2022 Cordia
Launches as New Energy Solutions Provider Dedicated to Sustainability,
October 26, 2022
Cordia, a sustainability-driven energy solutions provider, launched today,
including assets from former Clearway Community Energy. Cordia provides
innovative and sustainable energy solutions to its customers and the
communities it serves.
© 2026 Morris A. Pierce