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Chronological List of District Heating
Systems in the United States |
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| 1915 Steam System Map |
A fire destroyed the entire central business district of Seattle on June 6, 1889. The following month James D. Lowman, William H. Pumphrey, William P. Boyd and Angus Mackintosh incorporated the Seattle Steam Heat and Power Company with a capital stock of $40,000 divided into 400 shares of $100 each. The company was formed to generate, produce and manufacture steam, and to furnish, supply and sell steam and steam heat for ail purposes to which the same may supplied, and to charge and receive compensation therefor. The company built a plant at 619 Post Street that distributed 5 to 10 pound live steam for heating and water at eighty pounds to power elevators and other machinery in customer buildings. The water system was also designed to provide fire protection through hydrants and standpipes, and small hose carts were kept at the power-house in case of fire. The system was completed in October 1890 and was heating the Starr-Boyd building on October 30th. The Seattle system was unique is providing low-pressure steam for heating and high pressure water to power elevators and other machinery.
When the system was nearly completion, the company offered to provide additional water pumping capacity to the city at no cost, providing the city installed the necessary pipes along with a salt-water inlet from Elliott Bay. The City Council approved the plan and passed an ordinance, but the next council chose not to proceed with the project.
A second steam heat franchise was awarded to the Diamond Ice and Storage Company in September 1894 that covered an area north of the Steam Heat & Power Company's franchise. The Diamond firm owned a plant at 1319 Western Avenue.
Sidney Z. Mitchell graduated from Annapolis in 1883 and after two years of sea duty as a passed midshipman entered Thomas Edison's electric school in New York City. In September of that year year he and fellow graduate Frederick H. Sparling became exclusive agents for the Edison Electric Light Company and the Edison Company for Isolated Lighting in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and British. They organized the Seattle Electric Light Company in October and built a small steam-powered incandescent lighting plant that began operating the following March. The following year another Annapolis graduate, William J. Grambs, moved to Seattle and became Mitchell's partner in 1887 while Sparling left in 1889 to join the Brazilian navy.
Several electric companies and street railway companies were subsequently started in Seattle, creating a chaotic landscape. In early 1899, Mitchell convinced Union Electric's New York syndicate that the marginally profitable utility needed improvement and arranged for Stone & Webster to study its operation along with other Seattle electric companies and street railways. They recomended consolidation of the various utilities, which began with the formation of the Seattle Electric Company in January 1900 to take over the Union Electric Company and Seattle Steam Heat and Power Company, to which other companies were added. In this way, sixteen electric railway, light, and power companies operating in Seattle, including the Union Electric Company, were consolidated under Stone & Webster management by 1903. Although Stone & Webster served as general manager of the Seattle Electric Company, the firm never actually owned more than a small percentage of this company.
The Steam Heat company's plan was enlarged and added electric generation and the firm contracted with the American District Steam Company to rebuild the distribution system, which became part of the Seattle Electric Company.
The Diamond Ice company transferred their steam franchise to the Mutual Light & Heat Company in 1904 and both of these companies were acquired by the Seattle-Tacoma Power Company in 1905. The Puget Sound Traction, Light and Power Company was organized in 1912 and acquired all of the electric and steam heat properties in Seattle. The two steam heating systems were tied together and both the Post Street and Western Avenue plants remained in operation. The company's name was changed to Puget Sound Power & Light in 1920 following the sale of the Seattle street railway system to the City.
The City of Seattle bought out the local electric company in 1951, but did not want the steam heating assets. These were instead advertised for sale and were bought by system's customers, who formed the Seattle Steam Corporation. The new company sought and received a 50-year franchise the following year and replaced its coal-fired boiler with an oil-burning unit The company operated as an independent entity until 1972 when the shareholders agreed to sell the firm to the KPK Corporation of Chicago. KPK were passive investors and by all accounts let the local management run the business as they saw fit. The oil shocks of the 1970s buffeted the company and in 1976 they installed a 30 MW electric boiler that would use Seattle City Light's low electric rates. Unfortunately a drought the following year limited the utility's electric production and the steam company switched back to natural gas. The company then used its ability to use gas, oil and electricity to great advantage to keep rates low for their customers.
A waste-to-energy plant that could supply steam to the company was proposed in 1983, but was soon abandoned. The company explored the option of burning urban wood waste in 2006 and after obtaining the necessary permits constructed a biomass boiler at their Western Avenue plant that could also burn natural gas that began operation in 2008. The following year the company proposed installing a 50 MW combustion turbine to cogenerate heat and power, but this was also abandoned, likely due to inability to obtain a suitable power offtake contract. A 385-foot deep well was completed in 2013 to provide 80% of the company's water needs.
The Canadian firm Brookfield Asset Management bought the company in 2014 and incorporated into their Enwave district energy unit. Brookfield sold Enwave in 2021. Enwave's U.S. district energy business was acquired by QIC Global Infrastructure and Ullico Infrastructure Fund and the name was changed their name to Centrio.
References
1886 Register
of Alumni, Graduates and Former Naval Cadets and Midshipmen,
by U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association
Page 120: Naval Cadets, Graduating Class of 1882, William Jacob
Grambs, No. 1657, Hon. dis, June 30, '84
Page 124: Naval Cadets, Graduating Class of 1883, Sydney Zollicoffer
Mitchell, No. 1723, Hon. dis., June 30 '85
1889 "New
Corporations," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 24,
1889, Page 4.
J.D. Lowman, W.H. Pumphrey, W.P. Boyd and Angus Mackintosh yesterday
filed articles of incorporation of the Seattle Steam Heat and Power
Company with the county clerk. The principal object for which tbe company
is formed is to generate, produce and manufacture steam, and to furnish,
supply and sell steam and steam heat for ail purposes to which the same
may supplied, and to charge and receive compensation therefor. The
capital stock is $40,000, which is divided into 400 shares of $100 each.
The principal place of business shall be in Seattle.
1889 "Heat
Will Be Sold," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 24,
1889, Page 8.
Several big blocks to be heated from one plant.
1889 "The
Steam Heating Company," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
November 30, 1889, Page 5.
The Seattle Steam Heat and Power Company has not yet come to any
conclusion as to Um extent of the plant which they will put in. Mr.
W. H. Bishop, the agent of the Holly system of steam distribution, has
gone to San Francisco. Before leaving he made the company three
propositions--one for a plant covering only the buildings first proposed,
one for the same district with larger pipes capable of being added to, and
one for the plant which would be capable of heating over two miles of
buildings. Other companies have also submitted propositions and it will
probably be several days before the company comes to a definite conclusion
in regard to the matter.
1890 The
Mason County Journal, January 31, 1890, Page 1.
The Seattle Steam Heat & Power Company has closed a contract for the
construction of a $60,000 plant to heat and furnish power for elevators
for twenty-three of the largest brick buildings in the city. The system
will be connected with the bay, so that iu case of fire 100 streams of
salt water can be turned on at once, which is seven times the amount the
waterworks can do in the district covered by the new system..
1890 "Steam
Heat," Engineering News 23:143 (February 8, 1890)
The Seattle Steam Heat and Power Co., of Seattle, Wash., has let the
contract for its mains and plant to Murphy & Wright, for $50,000. The
mains will be large enough to allow an extension of the system one block
in any direction. The steam main at the powerhouse will be 14 ins. in
diameter, and the water mains 12 ins, These pipes will be reduced in size
as the branch for the different buildings are taken off. They will be
placed below the gas and water pipes, and the steam pipes will be solidly
imbedded in brick conduits lined with a nonconductor. A low pressure of
steam will be kept up at all times. The water power which the company will
furnish will not only supply power to run the twenty elevators in the
buildings which are in the system, but will also furnish powerful and
efficient fire-protection.
1890 Seattle
Steam Heat and Power Company Franchise Ordinance, February 19, 1890
That there be and is hereby granted to the Seattle Steam Heat and Power
Company, a corporation, the right, privilege and authority for the period
of twenty-five years from and after the passage of this ordinance to lay
down, maintain and operate in and along any and all of the streets, alleys
and public places within the district bounded and described in this
section, pipes for the purpose of conducting steam for the heating of
buildings and for conducting water to be used for extinguishing fires and
as motive power for the operation of elevators and other machinery and for
no other purpose or purposes, said district being bounded and described as
follows: Beginning at the intersection of the west marginal line of
Railroad avenue with the northern marginal line of Madison street, running
thence easterly along the northern marginal line of Madison street to the
eastern marginal line of Third street; thence southerly along the eastern
marginal line of Third to the north marginal line of Yesler avenue; thence
east along the north marginal line of Yesler avenue to the point of
intersection with the east marginal line of South Fourth street produced;
thence south along the east marginal line of South Fourth street produced
and along the east marginal line of South Fourth street to the south
marginal line of Main street; thence west along the south marginal of Main
street to the west marginal line of Railroad avenue; thence northerly
along the western marginal line of Railroad avenue to the point of
intersection with the northern marginal line of Madison street, the place
of beginning. Seattle City Council Ordinance No. 1299, "An Ordinance
granting to the Seattle Steam Heat and Power Company ... the right,
privilege and authority to lay down, maintain and operate pipes ... ,"
approved February 19, 1890;
1890 "Steam
Heat and Power," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 10, 1890,
Page 5.
An extensive system building that will give additional fire service.
The plant of the Seattle Steam Heat and Power Company, which is to furnish
elevator power and heat for the twenty-five large brick buildings in the
area bounded by Columbia, James, Second and Post streets.
1890 "Will
Soon Furnish Steam," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September
13, 1890, Page 2.
The roof is being placed on the pumphouse of the Steam Heat and Power
Company, on Post street, and a chimney 160 feet high is in course of
erection. The boilers are in position, and the pumps have arrived, and are
being fitted up. The laying of steam pipes in tbe street will be finished
in three weeks, and a month will see the company in a position to do
business..
1890 "Auxiliary
Fire Protection," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 24,
1890, Page 5.
A proposition to be made to the City Council.
1890 "City
Council," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 7, 1890,
Page 5.
An ordinance was read contracting with the Seattle Steam Heat and Power
Company for a supply of salt water in case of fire free of charge if the
city will lay the mains, and let the company have the use of them, and
also make connection between their pumps and the bay.
The ordinance was passed. Seattle City Council Ordinance No. 1521, "
An Ordinance accepting the proposition of the Seattle Steam Heat and Power
Company ... ," approved October 7, 1890;
1890 "Steam
Heat in Another Week," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
October 13, 1890, Page 2.
The smoke stack of the Steam Heat and Power Company's plant is about
completed and the plant will be in operation in about a week.
1890 "Steam
Heat in Three Days," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 22,
1890, Page 3.
Steam was gotten up for a test in the boilers of the Steam Heat and Power
Company yesterday and everything was found to work well. The full power of
steam was not put on, as the chief object was merely to dry out the
chimney stack. The stack it not quite finished, but the smoke is carried
up through a temporary stack while the bricklayers are working. The
plant will be put in operation in about three days, and a full force of
steam will be on in a week..
1890 "Steam
Heat at Last," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 29, 1890,
Page 5.
The Plant in Operation Ready to Warm the Big Blocks.
1890 "Testing
the Steam Heat Plant," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October
30, 1890, Page 5.
The plant of the Steam Heat and Power Company is still running only
experimentally, though steam was in the mains with a pressure of fire
pounds to the square inch yesterday, and was being used in the Starr-Boyd
and any other buildings which bad been connected. One of the pumps was
also started, and worked well under sixty pounds pressure. The plant will
probably be in full operation in two or three days..
1891 "Bad
Faith is Alleged," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January
21, 1891, Page 5.
The Main from the Steam Heat Plant--Reasons Against It.
1891 "A
Suit for Steam," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 30,
1891, Page 5.
Mandamus Proceedings against Heat and Power Co.
1891 "Wants
Steam Heat," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 10,
1891, Page 5.
Writ of Mandamus Asked to Compel the Placing of It in a Building.
The company supplies heat to a large number of buildings in the business
portion of the city and was granted a franchise by the city to lay its
pipes through the streets.
1893 Seattle City
Directory
Page 815: Seattle Steam Heat and Power Company
James D. Lowman Pres; John B. MacDougall Mngr; Harry A. Snyder Sec;
609-611 Bailey bldg. Tel 98; Power House 62 Post, Tel 792
1893 An
Illustrated History of the State of Washington: Containing
Biographical Mention of Its Pioneers and Prominent Citizens,
by Harvey Kimball Hines
Pages 384-385: William J. Grambs
1893 Sanborn
Fire Insurance Map from Seattle, King County, Washington
Image 17: West side of plate 8 shows the plant of the Seattle Steam
Heat and Power Company and their steam service bounded by Columbia, James,
Second and Post streets
1893 Sanborn
Fire Insurance Map from Seattle, King County, Washington
Image 3: West side of plate 1 shows the plant of the Diamond Ice and
Storage Company.
1894 "Diamond
Company Accepts Franchise," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
September 29, 1894, Page 8.
The Diamond Ice and Storage Company yesterday filed its acceptance of the
twenty-five year franchise to lay pipes, wires and conduits for conducting
steam, hot water, gas and electricity for heat, light and motive power.
The system is to he restricted to the territory bounded by Railroad
avenue, Madison, Fifth and Pike streets.
1895 "Not
Paralyzed Long," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 21, 1895,
Page 5.
Car lines running again in spite of the fire.
The loss to the Third street line is said to be small, being covered by
$5,000 insurance. Manager Crambs thinks he can use the two engines
and two boilers in the burned building, besides three railway generators
and two 1,000-incandescent machines and two 50-arc machines The
generators, he thinks, can al«o be as from the examination made hastily
but little damage seems to have been done to them. Thus the loss of the
Third street line is reduced to a comparatively small figure.
Mr. Grambs stated yesterday that he would at once proceed to put the
machinery of the Third street line into shape, having engaged a room near
tho Seattle Steam Heat & Power Company on West street, where he
expects to at once erect a building. All the engines, boilers, generators
and other machinery that has not been injured by the fire will be moved at
once and new machinery added until the plant is complete.
1899 "New
Power Company," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 26,
1899, Page 12.
Articles of incorporation of the Washington Power Transmission Company.
1899 "New
Incorporations," Electrical World 23(11):354 (March 18,
1899)
The Washington Power Transmission Company, Jersey City, N.J., has been
formed, with a capital stock of $1,250,000. The incorporators are
Frederick B. Hyde, Harry W. Meen and Kenneth K. McLaren.
1899 "Big
Electric Power Deal," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April
28, 1899, Page 12.
Seattle Steam Heating Plant Sold to S.Z. Mitchell Et Al.
The purchasers include S.Z. Mitchell and W.J. Grambs.
The Seattle Steam Heat and Power Company was organized soon after the
fire. It began operations the following year. Three years ago
the electric plant was added. The plant today has a horse power of
about 1,200. It consists of six modern engines and eight
boilers. In addition there are six electric machines, five of them
incandescent and one arc. These were formerly part of the plant of
the Rainer Power and Railway Company.
1899 "Big
Power Plant," The Seattle Daily Times, April 29, 1899, Page
6.
Union Electric Company Preparing to Enlarge. It has options on Steam
Heating Plant, which if carried out will cost $450,000.
1899 "New
Owners in Control," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 16,
1899, Page 10.
W. J. Grambs to be Manager of Steam Heat and Power Co.
In addition the company operates six electric power machines, which
furnish the current for the Consumer's Electric Company.
1899 "Rival
Power Concerns," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 22,
1899, Page 12.
S.Z. Mitchell, head of the Washington Transmission Company, was busy in
New York forming a company to put in a big dam and power plant at the
mouth of Cedar Lake. The formal announcement of his enterprise did
not long precede the signing of contracts for the supply of electricity to
Seattle. Immediately after this came the purchase of the Seattle
Steam Heat and Power Company and the transfer of a controlling interest in
the Union Electricity Company to Mr. Mitchell.
1899 "Rebuilding
Steam Plant," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 28,
1899, Page 5.
Contract let for construction of new distributing system.
1899 The
Plumbers Trade Journal 26(11):326 (December 1, 1899)
The Seattle Steam, Heat and Power Co. of Seattle, Wash., intend to rebuild
their plant. The building and improvements will cost half a million
dollars. The plan will be enlarged from 1,500 horsepower to 4,000
horsepower. The mains through which the heat and power are
transmitted will be taken up and replaced by a larger and more modern
system. New boilers and dynamos will be placed in the power house.
1899 "Smoke
Ordinance Held Valid," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
December 12, 1899, Page 7.
W.J. Grambs, manager of the Seattle Steam Heat & Power Company, was
fined $50 and costs by Police Judge Cann yesterday for violating the
ordinance passed several month ago regulating the smoke nuisance. Judge
Cann held the ordinance to be valid
1899 "City
Hall Notes," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 15,
1899, Page 6.
It is understood that the Seattle Steam Heat and Power Company will abide
by the preposition of the board of public works and lay its new mains in
the center of the streets covered by the company's franchise and between
the car tracks. This will involve some extra work, but will result in less
interruption to traffic than had the original plans of the company been
followed..
1899 "New
Steam Heat System," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December
1, 1899, Page 11.
What is known In engineering circles as the Holly system will be used. The
steel mains will be wrapped with asbestos and then encased In wooden
pipes, lined on the Inside with tin.
1900 The
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 5, 1900, Page 6.
Articles of information were filed yesterday with the county auditor of
the Seattle Electric Company; capital stock, $6,250,000; shares, $100
each; incorporators, Jacob Furth, Thomas Burke, C.J. Smith, Maurice
McMicken, M.H. Young, R.V. Ankeny. The trustees are the same, with
the addition of F.K. Struve, George E. Hayes and F.J. Wood.
1900 "Properties
are Deeded," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 23,
1900, Page 12.
The Seattle Electric Company has also secured title to the Seattle Steam
Heat and Power Company. It has operated that company's plant for
several weeks.
1900 Seattle Steam Heat & Power Co. was sold to the Seattle Electric Company in January 1900. Commercial and Financial Chronicle 70(1086):35 (February 3, 1900)
1900 "Ready
to Build a Big Power Station," Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
December 2, 1900, Page 9.
It will be located directly north of the present power station of the
Seattle Electric Company, formerly known as the Seattle Steam Heat and
Power Company Plant.
1904 "Fighting
the Trust," The Seattle Star, April 9, 1904, Page 7.
The Diamond Ice and Storage company filed notice with the city clerk of
the transfer of its franchise to the Mutual Light & Heat company,
which has the same stockholders and is capitalized at $200,000. The
franchise transferred was granted to the Diamond Ice and Storage company
in 1894, granting it permission for a period of twenty-five years to
convey gas, electricity, steam and hot water under the streets of the
city.
1905 "Franchises
Considered," The Seattle Star, October 18, 1905, Page 1.
Seattle-Tacoma Power Company's pending steam heat franchise.
1908 "Steam
Plant--Seattle-Tacoma Power Company," Journal of Electricity,
Power and Gas 21(17):259-262 (October 24, 1908)
The Mutual Light and Heat Company held an exclusive franchise for the
heating by steam of a district one-half mile square in what is now
the heart of Seattle's retail business section.
1911 "Decisions
of Supreme Court," The Tacoma Daily Ledger, January 8, 1911,
Page 11.
The supreme court affirmed the King county court in the case of Charles H.
Baker against the Seattle-Tacoma Power company. Baker, a stockholder
in the company, sought to have set aside and declared void the purchase of
the Mutual Light & Heat company and the Diamond Ice & Cold Storage
Company.
1912 "Five
Big Concerns Will be Operated by Single Company," The Bellingham
Herald, January 7, 1912, Page 1.
Seattle Electric Company, Pacific Coast Power Company, Seattle-Tacoma
Power Company, Whatcom County Railway & Light Company and Puget Sound
Electric Railway All Become the Property of Newly Organized Puget
Sound Traction Light & Power Company
1912 10(2):135 (February
1912)
Boston Office
The Securities Department reports that the new Stone & Webster
company, known as the Puget Sound Traction, Light & Power Company, has
been organized, and that the exchange of its securities for the preferred
and common stocks of The Seattle Electric Company, Pacific Coast Power
Company, Puget Sound Electric Railway and Whatcom County Railway &
Light Company is now progressing rapidly. The plan for forming the new
company was sent to the stockholders of the above companies, and to the
stockholders of Seattle-Tacoma Power Company,-whose property is also to be
acquired by the new company-on January 6th. The Committee of Stockholders
declared the plan operative two weeks later, assents from the holders of
more than the necessary two-thirds of the stock of The Seattle Electric
Company, Pacific Coast Power Company, Puget Sound Electric Railway and
Whatcom County Railway & Light Company having been received. The
responsibility of carrying out the necessary procedure has rested largely
with the Corporation, Securities and Transfer Departments
1912 "Mr. William J. Grambs," Electrical World 59(22):1232 (June 1, 1912)
1913 Poor's
Manual of Public Utilities; Street, Railway, Gas, Electric, Water,
Power, Telephone and Telegraph Companies, April 1913.
Pages 517-520: Puget Sound Traction, Light and Power Co.
Under the management of the Stone & Webster Management Association,
Boston, Mass.
Page 1594: Stone and Webster Organization.
This organization manages thirty-nine electric railways, electric
lighting, gas and water power companies.
Each of the above companies is a distinct corporation, and its operations
and accounts are reported separately.
1913 "District Heating on the Pacific Coast," by G.E. Quinn, Puget Sound Traction, Light and Power Co., Seattle, Wash., Proceedings of the National District Heating Association 5:157-166 (May 1913)
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
Pages 284-286: In the winter of 1899 and 1900, the American District
Steam Company installed for the Seattle Electric Company, now known as the
Puget Sound Traction, Light and Power Company, an underground-heating
system of approximately 6,250 lin.ft. of trunk lines. A few years later
the Diamond Ice Company of Seattle, installed underground-heating mains in
a district adjoining the district served by the Puget Sound Traction,
Light and Power Company. This system has since been acquired by the latter
company. Due to the rapid growth of the city and the popularity of the
district steam-heating service, the Puget Sound Light and Power Company
has been called upon to make extensive additions to their underground
system and in the spring of 1915 they had in operation 32,250 lin.ft. of
trunk-lines, and approximately 10,000 ft. of service lines.
At the present time the company has connected about 550 customers and
supplies heat for about 150,000,000 cu.ft. of space. Assuming one square
foot of radiation to each 125 cu.ft. of space the service supplies upwards
of 1,200,000 sq.ft. of radiation. Although the steam-heating business is
carried on by the light and power company, it has been found cheaper to
furnish the light and power from their hydro-electric plants, the heating
service only being supplied from their local steam-plants. In these local
steam-plants are also installed dynamos which are used simply as reserve
capacity to be started up in case of any failure of the hydraulic system.
Although these steam-plants have been operated entirely independent of
lighting, the service being supplied by live steam, the balance sheet for
the past year shows a substantial net profit in their operation.
1916 History
of Seattle from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time,
Volume 1, by Clarence Bagley
Page 438: It was early in the year 1899, when W. J. Grambs received
instructions from Boston to buy a controlling interest in the Union
Electric Company and the Seattle Steam Heat & Power Company, which
were in control of the light and power business in Seattle.
Page 451: As already stated, the first property that Stone &
Webster acquired in Seattle was the old Union Electric Company; shortly
thereafter this firm purchased the property of the Seattle Steam Heat
& Power Company, on Post Street, near Yesler Way, and commenced the
erection of a large powerhouse, where modern and up-to-date machinery was
installed.
1916 History
of Seattle from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time,
Volume 2, by Clarence Bagley
Pages 801-803: James D. Lowman
1919 "Seattle Votes to Buy Street Railway System," Stone & Webster Public Service Journal 24(1):38-40 (January 1919)
1920 The company's name was changed to Puget Sound Power & Light in 1920 following the sale of the Seattle street railway system to the City.
1921 Centralized Public Utility Management: Development of Stone & Webster's Management Organization in the Past Thirty Years, by Henry Goddard Bradlee | also here |
1922 "Sidney Z. Mitchell," Electrical World 79(19):916 (May 13, 1922)
1922 Stone
& Webster, Incorporated
Pages 60-63: Puget Sound Power and Light Company
1923 "Review
of Steam Heating from Central Stations in Seattle, Washington," by
W. J. Santmyer, Superintendent Steam Heat Division, Puget Sound Power
& Light Co., Proceedings of the National District Heating
Association 14:38-62 (June 1923)
The first central steam heating plant in Seattle was installed in 1889,
but the records from that time to 1902 are incomplete so this brief review
begins with 1902, when a steam heating system was installed by the Seattle
Electric Company from Post Street Station up Post Street Alley to First
Avenue. This installation supplied First and Second Avenue, including
James Street to Madison Street, serving nine blocks of property along
First and Second Avenue. This installation was made large enough to carry
the heating for the south end of the city south of Yesler Way to Jackson
Street, and east of First Avenue to Sixth Avenue.
1925 "Mitchell, the Man Who Saves Millions for Investors," Forbes 18:315-318 (June 15, 1925)
1950 "S.Z." Sidney Z. Mitchell (1862-1944) electrical pioneer, by Curtis Ernest Calder
1951 "Power Company Sets Tomorrow for Plant Bids," The Seattle Daily Times, June 7, 1951, Page Bl8
1951 "Utility Invites Bids for Steam Heat Plant," The Los Angeles Times, June 20, 1951, Page 49
1951 "Richard
M'Kay to Leave WWP," The Spokesman-Review, October 26, 1951,
Page 51.
Richard McKay has been engaged to manage the newly created Seattle Steam
corporation.
Seattle Steam corporation, which serves downtown Seattle, has been
purchased by a group of Seattle business man.
1951 The Puget Sound Power & Light Company sold its Seattle Steam Heating System to the Seattle Steam Corporation on December 1, 1951 for an aggregate amount of about $417,000, Commercial and Financial Chronicle 175(5095):8 (March 3, 1952)
1952 "50-Yr. Franchise On Plants Asked by Steam Corp.," The Seattle Daily Times, March 20, 1952, Page 34
1952 "Heat Plant Operations Held Satisfactory," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 23, 1952, Page 103.
1952 "Seattle Steam Directors Play Dual Role in Stock-Buying Bid," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 16, 1955, Page 35.
1955 "Seattle
Steam Has Big Blowout," Spokane Chronicle, September 15, 1955, Page
6
Nobody got boiled but they sure had quite a party at the Seattle, Steam
corporation plant last night. Inside a boiler, too. The occasion was to
celebrate the company's new $500,000 boiler, from which steam will begin
to pour into downtown buildings Friday. Twenty-seven persons
attended the soiree in the big tube which is 60 feet high, 23 feet wide
and 42 feet deep. The guests entered the "dining room" on a metal chute
through a three-foot burner opening.
1956 "Seattle
Steam Corporation Operations," by Richard McKay, District
Heating 41(2):93-94 (January 1956)
The Seattle Steam Corporation acquired the district-heating property in
Seattle on December 1, 1951 from Puget Sound Power & Light Company,
who had previously operated it in conjunction with its electric system.
When the City of Seattle, early in 1951, acquired the electric property in
Seattle from Puget, as an alternate to taking over the property on
expiration of the franchise, Puget decided to discontinue its
district-heating business. District heat, while originated to use a
by-product, had become a necessity in a large growing city such as
Seattle, on account of its advantages of: eliminating smoke and dust from
the downtown area; giving the users an unusually dependable source of heat
available automatically from thermostat control without even the necessity
of the push of a button; eliminating responsibility of the users in
maintaining a labor force to operate their own plant and of maintaining
their equipment; and of making valuable space in buildings occupied by
boiler plants available for rental. The users of steam realizing this
necessity formed the Seattle Steam Corporation to take over this property.
Stock generally was sold to steam users.
1957 "What
Happened to the Iceman," The Seattle Sunday Times, June 9,
1957, January 14, 1969, Page 10
The Seattle-Tacoma Power Co. in 1905 bought the Diamond Ice & Storage
Co. It later separated the expanded the steam-heat and electric
light and power operations, which in 1912 became part of the Puget Sound
Traction Light & Power Co.
The steam heat property was sold in 1951 to the Seattle Steam Corp
1960 "Firm
'Warms the Heart of Seattle,'" The Seattle Sunday Times Magazine,
September 4, 1960, Page 3
Central heating of Seattle buildings goes back to 1890 when the Seattle
Steam Heat and Power Co. began operations at the Post Street Plan.
1960 S. Z. Mitchell and the Electrical Industry, by Sidney Alexander Mitchell
1966 "Company
Sets Open House to Celebrate Big Boiler," The Seattle Times,
March 30, 1966, Page 31
120,000 pounds of steam per hour. The installation was at Seattle
Steam's Post Street Facility, 633 Post St., where the open house will be
held.
1969 "Firm
Taps Catastrophe Supply," The Seattle Times, January 14,
1969, Page 8
Picketing by striking oil workers is curtailing the normal flow of
petroleum products.
1972 "KPK Corporation has acquired Seattle Steam Corporation," Chicago Tribune, July 12, 1972, Page 87
1973 "To
Acquire or Be Acquired: KPK Chose by Former," Realty and
Building 169:94-96 (May12, 1973)
A franchised public utility company, Seattle Steam Corporation, turned out
to meet KPK's criteria. Seattle Steam is a district steam company,
which through its 20 plus miles of looped steam pipes, distributes heat at
300 psi to some 500 properties in the central downtown Seattle area
including major office buildings, hotels, hospitals, and even a large
University and Junior College. Acquisition was accomplished last year
through a successful tender offer to the widely dispersed stockholders.
Seattle Steam Corporation has now gone through its first winter heating
season operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of KPK Corp. Steam
generation, revenues and profits have all reached new highs and the
acquisition has given KPK Corp. an unusually large and stable cash flow
base on which to expand its development and ownership of industrial
properties in the midwest area of the United States.
1973 "Seattle Steam keeps things hot," The Seattle Times, November 30, 1973, Page C6
1973 "Downtown
to Get Steam," The Seattle Times, December 1, 1973, Page A3
The company that heats 95 per cent of downtown Seattle sees no problems
with its winter fuel supply.
1974 "The
President's Page," District Heating 60(1):2
(July-August-September 1974)
Carroll W. Easton is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Seattle
Steam Corporation.
1977 "City
Light Goal Reached: 10% saving," The Seattle Times,
May 23, 1977, Page A16.
Seattle Steam has shut down its new electric boiler because of an energy
surcharge tentatively approved by the City Council last week.
1977 "Economics,
Installation, Operation and Maintenance of High-Voltage Electrode
Boilers," by Peter M. Coates, Proceedings of the International
District Heating Association 68:43-56 (June 1977)
Pages 54-55: Seattle Steam Corporation is a privately owned central
steam utility, serving customers in downtown Seattle from a one million
Ib/hr steam plant. Until 1976, all of the steam required by this system
was produced by burning fossil fuels, primarily natural gas.
In the summer of 1976, Seattle Steam installed a 30,000 kw Coates
electrode high-voltage steam boiler, capable of producing in excess of
100,000 lb of steam/hr at 180 psig. This boiler operates at 13.8 kv,
supplied directly from a utility substation located close-by. With careful
planning. Seattle Steam was able to install the boiler and integrate into
their system for less than $3/lb, including boiler, instrumentations, and
electrical switchgear, compared with $8/lb or more for fuel-fired boilers.
Since September 1976, the boiler has operated as a base load at 30 mw,
producing 100,000 lb of steam/hr, 24 hr/day, seven days/week. The boiler
operates in conjunction with one or more of the company’s fuel-fired units
and produces 180 psi steam at greater than 99.5% steam quality, while
operating at better than 99.7% efficiency. By base-loading the electric
boiler, the electric demand charge is spread over the maximum number of
kilowatt hours and results in the lowest possible effective electric
energy cost; so low, in fact, that the cost per million Btu’s using
interruptible natural gas is nearly twice that of the electric boiler.
1977 "Electric
Boiler for District Heating System," Power Engineering
81:158 (November 1977)
Electric boilers of the immersed electrode type had been used by the firm
from 1934 and Intermittently through the late 1940s.
Since being put on stream in October 1976, the electrode boiler allows the
fossil fuel fired steam boilers to take the hourly and dally load swings,
while it ss operated at predetermined maximum demand loads during lower
rate electric hours. Minimum unit electric costs are thus obtained.
1977 "City
Light customer savings decrease," The Seattle Times,
December 7, 1977, Page A15.
During the past week the Seattle Steam Corp. fired up an electric boiler
it has not used in three months.
The drought made it impossible for City light to generate enough power
from its own hydroelectric sources.
1977 "Energy
saving drops for fourth consecutive week," The Seattle Times,
December 12, 1977, Page D19
The utility said the 30-day average dropped sharply because the Seattle
Steam Corp. resumed use of a long-idle electric boiler.
1979 "Two
Big Industries Ask City For More Electricity Despite Crunch," The
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 9, 1979, Page 1
Several big electric loads have recently come "on line"--30 MW at Seattle
Steam
1983 "Seattle
site may house bus base, garbage plant," The Seattle Times,
August 19, 1983, Page B6
Steam generated by the incineration could be sold to the Seattle Steam
Corp., and electricity could be that would be cogenerated could be sold to
City Light.
1983 "Seattle Steam turns it on when cold snaps at city," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 22, 1983, Page 4.
1985 "Electric
Boilers," New directions in energy technology
Page 232: Seattle Steam Corporation
1985 "District Steam--Heating Large System Marketing: Expanding Your Market Share," by James G. Young, Proceedings of the International District Heating Association 76:31-37 (June 1985)
1985
Sidney Zollicoffer Mitchell, Alabama Business Hall of Fame
He helped install and operate the new incandescent lights on the
“Trenton,” the first battleship in the world to be so equipped.
Seeking more opportunity for individual initiative and advancement than
the Navy then provided, he decided in 1885, to resign his commission.
In New York, Sidney Mitchell heard from two school friends about the
opportunity for organizing electric light companies under Edison licenses.
He went to see Thomas A. Edison, who, impressed by the young man’s
enthusiasm, hired him to work in the Goerck Street factory to learn about
construction, testing, and shipping of generators and to attend a night
school Edison conducted for training electrical engineers. Sidney Mitchell
also learned the basics of distributing electricity by working as a
laborer for one of New York’s leading contractors.
1986 "Big
firms ponder a switch to oil heat," Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
July 25, 1986, Page C8.
For example, Seattle Steam Corp., which supplies steam for heating in
downtown Seattle and on First Hall had been using electricity supplied by
Seattle City Light. Earlier this year, says Jim Young, vice
president for marketing, Seattle Steam notified City Light that it was
switch to residual fuel oil.
"They came back and said,'We can make a deal based on the price of oil,'"
said Young.
The deal which had to be approved by the Seattle City Council, allows
Seattle Steam to buy much cheaper interruptible power that City Light had
been selling to California utilities. After its power bill was cut,
Seattle Steam was able to lower the price of its steam by an average of 15
to 20 percent.
1987 Puget Sound Power and Light Company records, 1868-1987
1987 Nooksack Falls Hydroelectric Plant HAER No. WA-18 Puget Sound Power and Light Company, September 1987
1988 "Seattle
Steam," District Energy 73(4):6-9,34 (Second Quarter 1988)
The company currently switches between oil, natural gas and electricity to
achieve maximum fuel economy.
1993 Puget Sound Power and Light Company, HAER No. WA-64 White River Hydroelectric Project
1996 "Uncivil Engineers: The Struggle for Control of Seattle's Early Water and Electric Utilities, 1890-1910," by Gray Fitzsimons, The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology 22(1):11-34 (1996)
2004 Energy District for South Lake Union/Denny Triangle, Phase 1 Feasibility Study Final Report, Prepared for Seattle City Light by FVB Energy, Inc.
2004 Old
Post Station, Seattle Steam Company
The Seattle Steam Heat and Power Company was granted a “franchise” by the
City of Seattle to provide steam heating and water on February 19, 1890.
In a letter of September 24, 1890, the Seattle Steam Company described the
imminent completion of a plant at 619 Post Avenue and the two duplex
Worthington steam pumps, which would provide water in the event of a fire.
2006 "Seattle Steam switching from gas to wood fuel," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 31, 2006, Page C1
2008 "Waste
wood to heat downtown buildings," The Seattle Times, October
8, 2008, Page B1
The Seattle Steam Company broke ground Tuesday on a hybrid waste-wood and
natural-gas heating plant on Western Avenue near Pike Place Markets.
2009 Seattle Steam Makes the Switch to Biomass, July 23, 2009
2009 "New
Turbine to Generate Jobs," The Seattle Times, November 11,
2009, Page A8
The new turbine can generate 50 megawatt-hours of electricity.
2010 DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR SEATTLE STEAM COMPANY COMBINED HEAT AND POWER AT POST AVENUE IN DOWNTOWN SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, June 2010
2011 "Seattle
Steam Powers Downtown Buildings," Biomass Magazine, January
9, 2011
Seattle Steam also has a natural gas-fired plant just blocks away that
Gent hopes will be an operating combined-heat-and-power plant by December
of 2012. The company has a federal grant for $19 million to help with the
costs and hopes to produce 35 megawatts of electricity and 25 megawatts of
heat at about 90 percent efficiency, Gent said. Seattle Steam will use the
heat, but is in negotiations with a utility for the sale of the
electricity. Thermal energy can be transferred in the form of steam or hot
water, and Gent said all Seattle Steam’s expansion plans are in hot water.
“I don’t know anyone building steam heating systems, and if they are,
they’re nuts,” he said matter-of-factly.
2011 "Paving the Way: Seattle Steam's road to renewable energy," District Energy (First Quarter 2011)
2014 "Seattle
Steam Sold to Toronto Company," Kitsap Sun, May 9, 2014,
Page 4.
Seattle Steam a private utility that provides steam heat to about 200
buildings in downtown Seattle has been sold to Toronto-based Brookfield
Asset Management. The sale amount was not disclosed. Seattle
Steam was founded in 1893. In 2010 it installed a biomass boiler
that generates steam from burning wood waste from tree trimming, broken
shipping frames and demolition. The Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce
reports the sale has to be approved by the Seattle City Council to
transfer the franchise for 18 miles of pipes under city streets.
2014 Seattle Steam Company Acquired by Brookfield, May 12, 2014
2014 Seattle Steam Co., old utility with new ideas, May 20, 2014
2014 CityStream:
Seattle Steam, August 14, 2014
Seattle steam has just tapped into a “deep-water well” to help run its
plant on western avenue downtown.
2015 District
Heating in Cities, United Nations Environmental Program
Page 32: Seattle’s privately owned district heat utility, Seattle
Steam, has partnered with an energy service company (ESCO) to offer an
energy saving programme directly to its own customers, helping them reduce
energy consumption by 29 per cent. The programme assesses a building’s
energy saving potential and provides access to grants and low-interest
loans, which customers can pay back through their monthly utility bills.
From a business development perspective, this lowers customers’ utility
bills (typically after a payback of five to seven years), allowing Seattle
Steam to retain customers.
Furthermore, the efficiency improvements free up existing heat generation
capacity to service new customers, allowing Seattle Steam to build its
customer base without additional capital costs associated with increasing
generation capacity.
2015 Seattle
Steam Heat & Power Company (Enwave Seattle), by John Caldbick
In 2013 Seattle Steam completed a 385-foot well designed to provide about
80 percent of the company's water needs (some 250 gallons per minute).
2016 William Grambs, acting for utilities conglomerate Stone & Webster in its push to consolidate Seattle electricity producers and street railways, incorporates Seattle Electric Company on January 19, 1900, by John Caldbrick
2017 "People
in the News," District Energy, 1st Quarter 2017
Longtime President and CEO of Enwave Seattle Stan Gent retired at the end
of 2016.
2021 "Brookfield sells Enwave Energy for $4.1bn in two transactions," Infrastructure Inventor, February 3, 2021
2021 District
Energy Is a Fit for Seattle, February 23 2021
While many existing district energy systems also use fossil fuels, they
are immensely flexible with the kind of fuel used to power their
equipment. At home, the Seattle Steam Company–now Enwave Seattle–was
converting its then oil-fired boiler to electricity-powered boilers in the
1970s. At one point, it was one of Seattle City Light’s four largest
costumers, but Seattle Steam converted its boilers to natural gas in 1977
after Seattle City Light faced an energy shortage.
2021 "Enwave’s U.S. District Energy Business Announces New Name, CenTrio," April 8, 2021
2021 On the Block: Who wants to buy the historic old Seattle Steam plant?, May 20, 2021
2021 Pacific
Northwest a Searchable History
1890-1899 many references to Stone & Webster, etc.
2022 Puget
Sound Power & Light Company, White River Hydroelectric Project,
Dieringer Washington, March 25, 2022
Struggle on the White River
Baker's chief rival for the White River project emerged in 1899 in the
form of the Stone & Webster Company, led by electrical engineers
Charles Stone and Edwin Webster. The two men had founded the firm ten
years earlier, shortly after they graduated from the electrical
engineering program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Initially involved in the design of electrical machinery for powerhouses
and the testing of electrical equipment, Stone and Webster expanded their
business to include the financial and technical evaluation of distressed
electric properties. They forged an alliance with General Electric, which
had substantial investments in many of the financially unstable electric
companies. With the encouragement of financial titan J. P. Morgan, the man
largely responsible for organizing General Electric, Stone and Webster
began acquiring poorly performing electrical properties. They often
reorganized the financial and technical management of these companies,
designed improvements to their physical plants, and oversaw all
construction work.
One such poorly performing electrical concern was Seattle's Union Electric
Company. The largest electric utility in the city. Union Electric emerged
in 1892 out of a consolidation of the Home Electric and Seattle General
Electric companies. Dr. Edward C. Kilbourne, a Seattle dentist who
speculated in real estate, street railways, and electrical properties, led
Union Electric which operated two steam plants in Seattle's downtown.
Kilbourne, however, proved to be a poor manager, spending a great deal of
time on outside business investments. Union Electric also lacked technical
expertise and its electrical generating equipment, though only a few years
old, was rapidly becoming obsolete. With the company threatening to
default on its bonds in 1897, the Pacific Northwest's General Electric
agent Sidney Z. Mitchell recommended a reorganization of Union Electric.
At Mitchell's urging, a group of Seattle businessmen, including William G.
Grambs, manager of the Seattle Steam Heat & Power Company and a rival
of Kilbourne, sought to form a new, larger electrical concern that would
assume control of Union Electric's property. As a result of Mitchell's
initiative, a syndicate composed of East Coast investors hired the firm of
Stone & Webster to study Seattle's electric companies and street
railways with the aim of forming one large concern. Charles Stone visited
Seattle in the fall of 1898 and the following year the syndicate hired
Stone & Webster to undertake the consolidation venture.
Under the Stone & Webster plan, the Seattle Electric Company was
organized on January 19, 1900, for the purpose of taking over electrical
properties. Agents of the banking syndicate proceeded to acquire either
the plants or securities of the city's many small electric concerns and
turned them over to the Seattle Electric Company. An agreement was made
between the syndicate and the Seattle Electric Company, such that as
properties were acquired and put into good operating condition, they were
absorbed by the company, which would then issue its own securities in
payment. In this way, sixteen electric railway, light, and power companies
operating in Seattle, including the Union Electric Company, were
consolidated under Stone & Webster management by 1903. Although Stone
& Webster served as general manager of the Seattle Electric Company,
the firm never actually owned more than a small percentage of this
company.
In addition to developing the plan that led to the formation of the
Seattle Electric Company, Stone & Webster underscored the need for
greater electric power generation through the development of hydropower in
nearby Cascade Mountain streams. The initial attempt to achieve this end
saw Stone & Webster, in concert with Mitchell and Grambs, launch the
Washington Power Transmission Company in early 1899. Their plan to develop
a hydroelectric plant near Cedar Falls, however, was blocked by Seattle
city officials who were completing a municipal waterworks in the Cedar
River watershed. Aiding the municipal ownership advocates in their battle
with Washington Power Transmission Company was a newly emergent and
principal foe of Stone & Webster's interests in the Northwest, Charles
H. Baker.
2023 "A road map to a greener Seattle: CenTrio, the former U.S. arm of Enwave, is on a decarbonization binge," by Tricia Brown, District Energy, 1st Quarter 2023
2023 "Seattle steam plant operator CenTrio shares early details of decarbonization effort," July 19, 2023, Puget Sound Business Journal
City
of Seattle pipeline franchises.
© 2024 Morris A. Pierce
Si