History of District Heating in the United States

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District Heating in Syracuse, New York


Plant of the Syracuse Heat & Power Company about 1900	Souvenir and General Postal Information (1903), Page 93.

A Holly steam heating system was proposed for the city in 1880, but was not built. The Syracuse Heat and Power Company was organized in 1880 and built a system with two miles of steam mains. The company was in receivership in 1901 and was reorganized as the Municipal Heating Company. This firm went into receivership in 1910 and the plant was apparently dismantled.

References
1880 Democrat and Chronicle, January 21, 1880, Page 2.
The Holly steam heating system is to be introduced into Syracuse.

1880 Lockport Daily Journal, February 5, 1880, Page 4.
Permission has been granted by the Common Council of Syracuse to lay the Holly Steam main pipes in that city.

1888 "Steam Heating," Engineering News 20:217 (September 15, 1880)
The Syracuse Heat & Power Co. has applied for a franchise at Syracuse, N. Y. The company proposes to lay mains for furnishing a supply of steam hot water and hot air; it must obtain the consent of property owners and must repair the streets after laying the pipes. Sewers, water pipes or gas mains are not to be disturbed. Steam heat and power must be furnished when demanded, to all public buildings along its mains and to the fire department at a price 75 per cent. of the most favorable price to private consumers, but the city is not required to be a customer. The capital stock is $150,000, all of which must be subscribed for, and 25 per cent. paid in before work is commenced.

1891 Power and the Engineer 11:20 (August 1891)
The Syracuse Steam Heating Company are furnishing 2,000 H. P. for heat and power. At present 68 engines are using their steam. They are just introducing a new system of filtration.

1891 Memorial History of Syracuse, N. Y.: From Its Settlement to the Present Time
Page 677: Syracuse Heat and Power Company.—This company is one of those developments which may be credited to the push and business enterprise of the community--an enterprise demanding a large investment and sagacious confidence in the final outcome. The company was organized in 1888, with a capital of $200,000 and the following incorporators: Wilber S. Peck, William K. Pierce, E. P. Bates, Edward Joy, Clarence Kellogg, William W. Cox, and Frank J. Webb. Land was purchased in Pearl street, a large building erected for boilers, and the plant for 2,500 horse-power put in. Two miles of street mains were laid, and the patronage by power users and those desiring heat has rapidly increased until now about thirty-five tons of coal are used daily. The plant is fitted up with every modern improvement of value, and is one of the best in the country. The officers of the company are Wilber S. Peck, President; William K. Pierce, Vice-President; M. J. Myers, Secretary; Ira A. Holly, Superintendent.

1896 Onondaga's Centennial: Gleanings of a Century, Volume 2
Page 19: William K. Pierce. In 1888, enthused with the idea of still further advancing the city's prosperity, he organized the Syracuse Heat and Power Company, with a capital stock of $200,000, this being accomplished almost entirely through his perSonal efforts. Mr. Pierce is the president of the company. The company furnishes heat and power to residences and business establishments. having obtained a valuable franchise from the city to conduct heat through mains placed in the different streets. This has proven a great convenience and meets with increasing popularity.

1901 "Sold by the Sheriff," The Plumbers Trade Journal 30(5):148 (September 1, 1901)
The plant of the Syracuse Heat and Power company was sold August 28th by Deputy Sheriff Bently for $19,000.The sale was the result of a foreclosure action brought by Manning C. Palmer, as trustees for the bondholders of the Heat and Power Company.

1902 The Iron Age 69:40 (June 12, 1902)
The Municipal Heating Company, Syracuse, N. Y., have under consideration the expenditure of about $150,000 in doubling the mileage of the mains and in building a new boiler house.

1903 Souvenir and General Postal Information (1903)
Page 93: Municipal Heating Company

1906 "Municipal Heating Company adopts the meter system," The Post-Standard, July 23, 1906, Page 4.

1910 "Heating Company Asks Right to Sell Electricity," Municipal Journal and Public Works 28(15):534 (April 13, 1910)
Syracuse, N.Y.--The Municipal Heating Company has asked Council for a franchise to permit it to transmit electricity through the streets where it has steam mains. The communication states that many of its pipes, mains and connecting apparatus have deteriorated and must be replaced. The company asks to have its present franchise extended so as to enable them, as they open the trenches for the purpose of repairing and replacing the present mains and pipes, to place parallel with said mains and pipes, and in the same trench, a conduit for wires over which they may transmit electricity to be generated at the plant in this city. They ask no permission to place poles or string wires, and are willing that the grant shall be strictly limited to such por1 tion of the streets as they may actually occupy with steam pipes and mains. The proposed franchise provides that the company shall furnish free light for the City Hall and light for other municipal uses at 3 cents a kilowatt hour. It also provides for the payment to the city of 10 per cent of the company's net earnings above the payment for fixed charges and operating expenses, these payments to begin one year after Jan. 13, 1912. After 10 years the city can take over the plant if it desires at 10 per cent advance upon its total cost.

1910 "Bond Holders to Foreclose," The Post-Standard, October 11, 1910, Page 5.
Plans made for the reorganization of Municipal Heating Company.

1910 "Corporation to be Reorganized," The Post-Standard, December 15, 1910, Page 6.
Bondholders will foreclose mortgage on Municipal Heating Plant.

1912 "Wish to Sell Electric Power to City," Municipal Journal and Engineer 32(16):598 (April 18, 1912)
Application is to be made by the Syracuse Utilities Company to the Public Service Commission for permission to produce and sell electric power. The plant of the Municipal Heating Company, which went into the hands of a receiver, will be used. Steam heat and electric power will be sold, using four and one-half miles of mains which the old company had. The gross revenue, it is thought, will be from $160,000 to $200,000.

1912 "New York Commission," Electrical World 59(18):949 (May 4, 1912)
The commission of the Second District has received an application from the Syracuse Utilities Company for permission to reconstruct its steam-heating supply station so as first to utilize the live steam for the generation of electrical energy which will be sold at the switchboard and then dispose of the exhaust steam for heating. It is stated that heretofore no energy, mechanical or electrical, has been generated from the live steam, but this is wholly practicable and only by this means can the plant be successfully operated and the present investment in the property saved. No change, of course, will be necessary in the present heating mains.

1912 The Iron Age 89:1248 (May 16, 1912)
The Syracuse Utilities Company has prepared plans for the reconstruction of the dismantled plant of the municipal heating plant, which it has acquired for the purpose of converting it into an electric power plant. The Public Service Commission has been petitioned for permission to carry out this plan.