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Chronological List of District Heating
Systems in the United States |
The Edison Electric Light Company of Philadelphia was incorporated on December 13, 1886. The company built a plant at 908 Sansom street that began service on March 5, 1889. The Irving House Hotel was immediately adjacent to the new plant and its management and residents were not pleased with its noise, vibrations, smells, and steam. Its lessee, Anna Benjamin, sued the Edison Company in August 1890 and the Edison plant began supplying steam to the hotel shortly thereafter. The steam may have been supplied free as a result of the lawsuit, as indicated in a 1904 letter
In 1896, steam heat was being provided to the new office of the Edison company at 117 S. 10th and later to its new office at Chestnut and 10th that opened in 1907. In 1906, steam was provided to the nearby Thomas Jefferson Hospital when it agreed to abandon its isolated plant and purchase power only if continuous steam service was also provided. Steam service to the Gimbels department store began in 1910 with the agreement that Edison would continue to operate the buildings boiler plant. The Lit Brothers department store was connected in 1921, and by the mid-1920s when the Edison station was replaced a more modern plant, the company felt a "moral obligation" to continue the steam service. A new large steam plant was built at 9th & Willow in 1927.
The steam system was sold to Catalyst Energy in 1987, to Trigen in 1993, Veolia in 2007 and Vicinity Energy in 2019.
The system is currently owned by Vicinity Energy.
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| 1921 | 1932 | 1950 |
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| 1951 | 1975 | About 2000 |
References
1869 An
act to incorporate the Steam Heating Fuel Company of Pennsylvania.
July 2, 1869.
Corporators: D. Morris, J. M. Rogers, R. S. League, J. C. Sturdivant, J.
P. Rees, B. W. Oliver; capital stock $500,000 divided into shares of one
hundred dollars each; corporation is authorized to borrow any sum or sums
of money not exceeding one million dollars. [This bill was
introduced in the legislature as the Steam Heating Fuel Company of
Philadelphia.]
1882 Philadelphia Steam Supply Company, April 25, 1882. | also here |
1889 Edison Station placed in operation at 908 Sansom Street, first building in the country specifically constructed as an Edison generating station. March 5, 1889
1889 "Houses
Shaken Up," The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 13, 1889, Page
3.
Many neighbors complain of the Edison Electric Light Company's big
building.
1890 "Electric
Dynamos A Nuisance," The Philadelphia Times, August 14,
1890, Page 3.
The Lessee of a Hotel Sues the Edison Company. The Edison Electric Light
Company are the defendants in a suit brought against them by Ann Benjamin,
for maintaining a nuisance at their dynamo plant on Sansom street, above
Ninth street. Anna Benjamin is the lessee of the Irving House, on Walnuxt
street, above Ninth, her hotel property running back a considerable
distance toward Sansom street. She claims that in 1886 the Edison Company
began the erection of their buildings on Sansom street, and since August
1886, the huge engines of the electric plant have been in constant
operation, to the annoyance of the patrons of her hotel. She says that in
the daytime there are "loud and tormenting noises" and at night her guests
are unable to sleep. At all times the vibrations, which shake the house,
are injurious to her comfort, while the escaping steam permeates the
premises in the shape of an injurious vapor. In consequence of these
nuisances she states that she has been unable to let a number of rooms
which would otherwise have brought her profit and that she has suffered
damages to the extent of $5,000.
1890 'The
Edison Company Sued," The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 14,
1890, Page 7
Anna Benjamin yesterday brought suit in the Common Pleas Court to recover
$5,000 damages from the Edison Electric Light Company on account of
nuisances said to have been committed by the defendants between the 1st of
August, 1889, and the time of bringing this suit. Mrs. Benjamin says that
in September, 1886, she was the lessee tor a tern of ten years of the
Irving House, on Walnut street, above Ninth. In 1886 the electric light
company began the erection of a manufactory fronting on Sansom street, at
the rear of the hotel.
Since August, 1889, this has been used for the manufacture and supply of
electric lights and other purposes. During the daytime, the plaintiff
says, there are "loud and tormenting noises,' and at night, her boarders
are unable to sleep. The vibrations by both day and night are very
injurious to the value of the premises, interfere with the time-keeping of
the clocks, etc. It is also charged that the company has allowed steam to
escape in such a way that it leads to the premises of the plaintiff, and
on account of this and the other nuisances complained of, she has been
unable to let a considerable number of rooms, which otherwise would have
been occupied, and has therefore suffered loss for which she seeks to
recover damages.
1890 "The
Electric Plant Suit," The Philadelphia Times, August 24,
1890, Page 6.
Several weeks ago Anna Benjamin, lessee of the Irving House, a hotel on
Walnut street, above Ninth, entered suit against the Edison Electric Light
Company to recover damages for an alleged nuisance occasioned by the
running of machinery and escape of steam from the electric plant building
on Sansom street in the rear of the hotel. Yesterday W. T. Devine and
Samuel B.Huey filed a demurrer to the complaint, setting aside the bill on
the purely technical ground that damages caused by escaping steam, noises
or vibrations are not recoverable under the law.
1891 "Explosion
at Edison Works," The Philadelphia Times, April 3, 1891,
Page 1.
Many neighbors complain of the Edison Electric Light Company's big
building.
1894 "Communication
of the President to the Board of Control of the Edison Electric Light
Co, of Philadelphia, 1894," Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the
Association of Edison Illuminating Companies 10:65-68 (August 1894)
Page 67: It is safe to say that the steam consumed by the
Irving House will consume one ton of coal per day the year round. This is
a loss that we cannot avoid, it being directed by the Executive Committee,
under advice of our Counsel, and we must face this loss until such time as
we are advised that it will be wise to withdraw the furnishing of steam to
the Irving House.
1895 Pennsylvania Heat, Light and Power Company incorporated, March 19, 1895.
1896 ,Pennsylvania Heat, Light and Power Company acquires the entire issue of Edison stock, in May 1896.
1896 Steam heat was being provided to the new office of the Edison company at 117 S. 10th
1896 "Big
Exhaust Steam Heating System," The Street Railway Review
6(5):317 (May 15, 1896)
The American District Steam Company, of Lockport, N. Y., having a system
of utilizing exhaust steam from electric power plants, and using it for
heating purposes, has begun work on a very extensive installation. Indeed,
the contract, which is with the Pennsylvania Heat, Light & Power
Company, of Philadelphia, calls for the largest system yet put in
anywhere. On a considerable portion of the lines the underground pipes are
of fourteen inches diameter.
The company has also equipped a number of street railway plants, among
which are the roads at St. Joseph, Mo.; Danville, I11.; Terre Haute, Ind.,
and Ottumwa, Iowa. The De Kalb, I11., Electric Light Company and the
Sycamore, 111., Electric Light Company are also using the American system.
The Dubuque Electric Light Company is another. All these companies And the
selling of heat in this way not only very successful from the standpoint
of the consumer, but quite profitable, as earnings are thus made from what
would otherwise go absolutely to waste. As our readers may recall from the
complete description already published in these columns, the pressure on
the service pipes is wholly automatic.
1902 Company renamed Philadelphia Electric Company.
1904 "Communication
of the President to the Board of Control of the Edison Electric Light
Co. of Philadelphia, May 14, 1894," Minutes of Meeting of the
Association of Edison Illuminating Companies 10:65-68 (August 1904)
Page 67: The average cost of coal per ton amounts to $3.70. It
is safe to say that the steam consumed by the Irving House will consume
one ton of coal per day the year round. This is a loss that we cannot
avoid, it being directed by the Executive Committee, under advice of our
Counsel, and we must face this loss until such time as we are advised that
it will be wise to withdraw the furnishing of steam to the Irving House.
1907 Company offices moved from the rented building on the northeast corner of Tenth and Sansom Streets and other locations to new central office building at 1000 Chestnut Street. April 7, 1907
1910 Atlas
of the City of Philadelphia, 1910
Plate 1: Map showing Edison Plant and offices, Irving House,
Jefferson Hospital and Medical School, and Gimbel Brothers and Lit
Brothers Department Stores.
1916 Sanborn Fire
Insurance Map from Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania,
Volume 1, 1916
Plate
23: Jefferson Hospital and Medical College; Philadelphia
Electric Company offices.
Plate
24: Edison Power Plant on Samson and adjacent Irving House
1921 "The
Heating System for the Girard Estate, Philadelphia," The Heating
and Ventilating Magazine 18:43 (June 1921)
Evans-Almirall system supplies 481 houses, stores and apartments on the
Girard Estate
1927 "New
Concerns Plans to Heat Terminal," The Philadelphia Inquirer,
May 21, 1927, Page 2
Philadelphia Steam Company Incorporated
1927 Willow Steam Heating Plant, first station specifically constructed by Philadelphia Electric to supply steam heat; service, placed in operation, October 15, 1927
1928 "Philadelphia Electric Company enters District Heating Field," Bulletin of the National District Heating Association 13(2):106 (January 15, 1928)
1931 "Phila.
Electric Co. Starts $4,000,000 Steam Heat Project," The
Philadelphia Inquirer, October 5, 1931, Page 15 | Part
2 |
Work on Central City Construction to Begin Immediately
1934 Steam heating system interconnected with the Pennsylvania Railroad steam plant, October 1, 1934.
1950 First steam supplied to steam heating system from Schuylkill Station, November 7, 1950.
1951 District
Heating Handbook, Third Edition, National District Heating
Association
Pages 13-14: The Philadelphia Electric Company operates a district
steam heating system in the central area of Philadelphia. Steam is
supplied normally at 175 psi, although there is no obligation to furnish
it at a pressure greater than 55 psi.
Steam for the system is generated in one coal-fired plant containing five
boilers, and approximately 180,000 lb of steam per hour are available from
a purchased source. Two leased oil-fired plants are used for stand-by and
peak-load purposes. No electricity is generated in connection with the
steam-heating system.
The customers supplied are largely commercial, although there are some
industrial and a number of loft buildings and restaurants. The commercial
buildings include department stores, specialty shops, banks, and office
buildings. No steam is supplied for power. Uses, other than space heating,
include water heating, cooking, clothing pressing and iron operations, and
a number of miscellaneous processes. Among the customers are the John
Wanamaker and Gimbel Brothers Department Stores, the Jefferson Medical
College and Hospital, the Federal Reserve Bank, the United States Mint and
the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper plant.
The largest customer has a maximum hourly demand of approximately 31,000
lb and an annual consumption of approximately 113,000,000 lb and the
smallest, an annual consumption of approximately 120,000 lb.
The Philadelphia Electric Company is unique in that the steam service it
supplies in Philadelphia is sold only under a demand type rate. The
maximum demand for each smaller consumer is controlled by steam demand
orifices installed by the Company in service lines and for some of the
larger customers by demand-limiting devices installed by them for their
own benefit.
The use of the service is expanding rapidly. Steam sales have doubled in
the past ten years and indications are that this rate of growth will
continue during the immediate future.
1958 New heating plant built next to original Edison Station on Sansom Street to provide peaking service with oil-fired boilers.
1961 History
of the Philadelphia Electric Company, 1881-1961, by Nicholas
B. Wainwright | Also here
|
Page 56: For office space, Maloney rented a new six-story building
on the northeast corner of Tenth and Sansom Streets, and into it were
moved the administrative personnel of the Brush and Edison operating
companies, as well as the staff of the holding company. Insofar as
possible, the purchasing, operating, and sales departments of the
different companies were centralized. Maloney also consolidated the
engineering staffs into a unified group which alone filled two floors of
the Sansom Street building. The offices were lighted throughout with
electricity from the nearby Edison plant, which also furnished power for
the elevator; and steam heat, then a novelty.
Pages 77-78: To replace the rented quarters on the northeast corner
of Tenth and Sansom, the Company purchased the nearby Assembly Buildings
which occupied a lot with a thirty-two-foot frontage on the southwest
corner of Tenth and Chestnut Streets, and which extended back 228 feet to
Sansom Street....This handsome edifice was occupied by the Company in the
spring of 1907. Steam-heated throughout from the Sansom Street plant, it
incorporated every possible use of electricity for lighting and power,
including such novel equipment as vacuum cleaners and ice-water machines.
Pages 196-197:.Another form of heating;-steam heating;-was provided
from the Edison Station to Philadelphia Electric's own buildings, to
Gimbel's, the Jefferson Hospital, and to a few other places. Steam heating
had not proved profitable, and, with the boilers at Edison due to be
condemned at any time, there was a temptation to discontinue it. The
Company, however, recognized a moral obligation to its steam
customers. Moreover, by supplying steam heat to large users, it
minimized the likelihood of their generating their own electricity.
n 1927, the directors decided to build up the steam business and; make it
pay. A plant was erected at Ninth; and Willow; Streets, enabling the
Company to shut down the inadequate steam plant at the Edison Station. To
develop a market for steam heat, Day & Zimmermann were hired to survey
business prospects.
Page 237: In October, 1931;, it purchased the Philadelphia Steam
Company whose territory lay west of Broad Street adjoining Philadelphia
Electric's own steam area. President Taylor announced a plan to spend
$4,000,000 in developing central heat. "Fewer smokestacks in the
business districts, purer air and cleaner buildings will be accomplished
by completion of the program. Building managements will find the care of
structures considerably simplified. Building managements will find
the care of structures considerably simplified. The development is in line
with the best thought of engineers and public health authorities. The
growth of central; station; steam; heat; service is most satisfactory.
There already is an impressive list of buildings using the service. We are
to see completed within a year a thirty-three-story building the
Philadelphia Saving Fund Society Building at Twelfth and Market
Streets-without a single stack. Every service, including the
heating, is to be supplied externally.
Page 351: The increase in steam; operations was, again relatively
speaking, even greater than the growth of the gas business. By 1959,
Philadelphia Electric's volume of steam heat sales was the third largest
in the nation. Many new office buildings, stores, and hotels in central
city were being added to the load, including the large structures in Penn
Center. Moreover, in the fall of 1959, the Company took on the extensive
steam heat needs of the University of Pennsylvania. Downtown, in the heart
of the old city, large new mains supplied both modern buildings and such
historic monuments as the Independence Hall group, and the Pennsylvania
Hospital, oldest in the nation. Since 1950, when a twenty-four-inch steam;
main had been constructed from Schuylkill Station, that plant had been
providing the base load in central city. This was the Company's most
economic supply. Willow Station, however, remained an important source for
central city heat and was supplemented by steam purchased from the
Pennsylvania Railroad's big steam plant, which had been interconnected
with the system. To provide increased reliability of service and to care
for peak loads, Philadelphia Electric in 1958 erected a handsome plant at
908 Sansom Street, adjoining its Edison Building and on the site of
Professor Marks's old Edison Station;. The Edison Steam Plant was designed
to house four oil-fired boilers capable of producing 720,000 pounds of
steam; an hour, two of which have been installed. At a cost of $4,000,000,
the Edison plant represented a large investment in the steam system and
helped to swell total construction costs.
1976 "The Philadelphia Steam Story… Approaching 90, and Still Going Strong," by Ellwood A. Clyme4 and Thomas M. Loughery, District Heating 61(4):24-29 (April, May, June 1976)
1976 "Philadelphia
Energy Conservation Plan," by Elwood A. Clymer, Jr., Proceedings
of the International District Heating Association 67:104-111 (1976)
Overcoming Institutional Barriers to Recovery of Energy from Municipal
Solid Waste
1981 "Steam heat: Money, politics and garbage," The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 31, 1981, Page H-1 | Part 2 |
1987 "PE
finishes sale of its steam loop," The Philadelphia Inquirer,
January 31, 1987, Page 10D
Catalyst Energy Development Corporation for $30 million.
1987 "Steam-loop developer proposes converting plant to burn trash," The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 19, 1987, Page E-1
1987 "District Heating in Philadelphia: 100 Years and Growing," District Heating and Cooling 73(2):17-19 (Fourth Quarter 1987)
1990 "Catalyst Selling Energy Unit Stake," The New York Times, October 17, 1990, Page D5.
1990 "At the control board of a hot Philadelphia property," The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 22, 1990, Page 3-D
1993 "Energy
merger turns up heat," Tarrytown Daily News, October 20,
1993, Page 8B.
Trigen will acquire United Thermal for about $10.7 million.
1993 "French
firm takes on task of cooling Center City buildings," The
Philadelphia Inquirer, November 24, 1993, Page C-1 | Part
2 |
Trigen is set to buy United Thermal for $64.8 million. United
Thermal delivered steam to customers in Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia,
and St. Louis. Trigen was renamed Veolia Energy in
2011 and was bought by Vicinity
Energy in December 2019.
1995 Urban Technological Systems Before Edison: Steam Heat and Power in Philadelphia, by Morris A. Pierce
1997 "Schuylkill
Station undergoing start-up," The Philadelphia Inquirer,
October 8, 1987, Page C3.
Grays Ferry Cogeneration Plan tincludes a 135 mW combustion turbine and a
58 mW steam turbine along ith a 700 klb/hr auxiliary boiler.
2005 Trigen-Philadelphia Energy Corporation Launches New Project with Thomas Jefferson University and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, November 10, 2005
2007 Menino
urges city regulation of steam, The Boston Globe, July 20,
2007, Page 20
It was announced last month that Trigen's parent company, Thermal North
America, Inc., will be sold for $788 million to Boston-based Veolia Energy
North America, which is part of Veolia environment of Paris.
2007 "French conglomerate wraps purchase of Trigen parent," The Boston Globe, December 15, 2007, Page 27.
2019 Vicinity Energy buys the Philadelphia Steam Systrm.
2025 Willow Steam Plant National Register of Historic Nominations, listed 2025
© 2026 Morris A. Pierce