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Chronological List of District Heating
Systems in the United States |
The Harrsiburg Steam Heat and Power Co. was incorporated on October 13, 1886 and steam was turned on to the first 13 customers on March 21, 1887. The company was serving 835 customers by 1922.
In 1912 the company purchased its own fleet of dredges and barges and began to supply itself with river coal. On 15 February 1913 the company merged into Harrisburg Light and Power Co., No. 1, which was merged into the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company (PP&L) in 1928.
The Harrisburg Steam Works, Ltd. bought the system from PP&L on December 11, 1985. Under the agreement, PP&L would continue to operate the facility through the following November. As a part of the agreement, a new cogeneration plant was to be built to provide steam and sell electricity to PP&L.
The system was bought in 2007 by Atlantic Thermal and Eastern Power Corporation. The following year Atlantic Thermal sold their share to Eastern Power, a subsidiary of the Eastern Group, itself a subsidiary of the Norwegian oil company Statoil In 2008 the Eastern Power was rebranded as Statoil Energy.
NRG bought the system from Statoil Energy in 2000, and in 2018 this unit of NRG was spun off as Clearway Energy.
In 2022 the Harrisburg
assets were sold to "harris,
which currently owns and operates the system.
References
1906 Annals
of Harrisburg
Page 433: Harrisburg Steam Heat and Power Co. was incorporated
October 13, 1886. Steam was turned on city November, 1887. The works are
located in the rear of the office on Short street.
1917 "Harrisburg
Without Steam Heat During Portion of Friday," Lancaster New Era,
December 15, 1997, Page 2.
The coupling flanges of the feed pipe had broken.
1922 History of the Harrisburg Steam Heat and Power Co., by T. M. Zeiders
1928 "Local
Light and Power Firm Takes New Name," The Evening News,
October 1, 1928, Page 13.
The name of the Harrisburg Light and Power Company is now a thing of the
past, and hereafter it will be written the Pennsylvania Power and Light
Company, which last summer acquired the local company and other nearby
subsidiary companies.
1957 Pennsylvania Power & Light Company predecessor and subsidiary companies records
1985 "Berks
group acquires capital steam system," Reading Eagle,
December 12, 1985, Page 52.
It currently serves 450 customers.
1987 "Harrisburg Steam Works: Up and Running," District Heating 73(2):11, 41 (4th Quarter 1987)
1989 "The
Harrisburg Cogeneration Story," by William P. Goodwin, Proceedings
of the International District and Cooling Association 80:172-188
(1989)
The HSW Walnut Street Steam Heating Plant currently provides district
steam to approximately 380 residential, commercial, and industrial
customers for space heating, domestic hot water heating and process
requirements in downtown Harrisburg.
1997 "Firms buy city steam plant, Paxton Creek Cogeneration," Patriot-News, January 11, 1997, Page 6.
1998 Application of Harrisburg Steam Works, Ltd., for authorization of the transfer of the transfer of Atlantic Thermal Systems, Inc. Ownership share of Harrisburg Steam Works to Eastern Power Corporation, Patriot-News, February 9, 1998, Page 15.
2000 NRG Energy to Buy Statoil Energy's Thermal Systems, April 26, 2000
2011 "Steamed
Up: As city steam vanishes, a group of homeowners fights back,"
The Burg, July 2011, Page 6. | Also here
|
In mid-March, a group of Harrisburg property owners received a big
surprise–they had six months to find, install and pay for an entirely new
way to heat their homes.
These 25 customers use “city steam,” a century-old system initially
provided by the city and, now, by NRG Energy Center Harrisburg. NRG
informed them that their steam distribution lines weren’t profitable, so
it was shutting them down.
“We didn’t ask for this,” said Eric Webb of the 700-block of Green Street.
“We were satisfied with steam heat.”
Most city steam customers are in the oldest parts of downtown and Midtown.
The lines that NRG plans to abandon–the current plan is to end service in
September–will affect customers on parts of N. 3rd, Green, Locust, N. 2nd,
Forster, Bartine and Briggs streets.
2018 Clearway
Energy Group Launches Operations, September 4, 2018
Clearway Energy Group (“Clearway”) began operations today as an
independent enterprise. The Company was formed with the completion of the
sale of NRG Energy, Inc.’s (“NRG”) renewables platform and NRG’s
controlling interest in NRG Yield, Inc. to Global Infrastructure Partners
(“GIP”), a leading global, independent infrastructure investor. The
transaction was initially announced in February 2018.
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 serv
Thanks to my friend and colleague Mary Ann Hellrigel for providing the 1922 History of the Harrisburg Steam Heat and Power Company from the Hagley Museum and Library.
© 2024 Morris A. Pierce