The Seattle Steam Company is a privately owned district heating

District heating

District heating is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating and water heating...

 public utility

Public utility

A public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service . Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies...

 that provides steam

Steam

Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...

 (generated by burning natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

, diesel oil, and is undergoing a delayed and problematic conversion to be able to use recycled wood

Wood fuel

Wood fuel is wood used as fuel. The burning of wood is currently the largest use of energy derived from a solid fuel biomass. Wood fuel can be used for cooking and heating, and occasionally for fueling steam engines and steam turbines that generate electricity. Wood fuel may be available as...

) to over 175 business in downtown Seattle and on First Hill

First Hill, Seattle, Washington

First Hill is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, named for the hill on which it is located. The hill, in turn, is so named for being the first hill one encounters traveling east from downtown Seattle toward Lake Washington....

 via 18 miles of steam pipeline. Its plants are located on Western Avenue at Union Street, just west of the Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market is a public market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington, United States. The Market opened August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continually operated public farmers' markets in the United States. It is a place of business for many small farmers,...

, and on Post Avenue at Yesler Way, in Pioneer Square

Pioneer Square, Seattle, Washington

Pioneer Square is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of Downtown Seattle, Washington, USA. It was once the heart of the city: Seattle's founders settled there in 1852, following a brief six-month settlement at Alki Point on the far side of Elliott Bay. The early structures in the neighborhood...

.

Seattle Steam was founded in 1893 as the Seattle Steam Heat and Power Co. It owns 18 miles of pipes under the streets of Downtown. Its average winter output is 250,000 to 300,000 lbs of steam per hour; this drops to less than 100,000 pounds in the summer.

Seattle Steam's biggest customers are Swedish Medical Center

Swedish Medical Center

Swedish Medical Center is a large nonprofit health care provider located in Seattle, Washington. It has three main hospital locations in Seattle and is also affiliated with many other suburban hospitals and clinics. As of 2009 it has 7000 employees and 2,300 credentialed physicians.-History:Swedish...

, Harborview Medical Center

Harborview Medical Center

Harborview Medical Center, located on Seattle's First Hill, is a public hospital in King County, Washington and is managed by UW Medicine.-Overview:...

, and Virginia Mason Medical Center

Virginia Mason Medical Center

Virginia Mason Medical Center , founded in 1920, is a private, non-profit organization located in Seattle, Washington.-Organization:Gary S. Kaplan, MD, serves as chairman and CEO....

, which use the steam for heat and sterilization. Other big customers include hotel

Hotel

A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

s, which use the steam for heat and for generating hot water, Seattle Public Library

Seattle Public Library

The Seattle Public Library is the public library system serving Seattle, Washington, USA. It was officially established by the city in 1890, though there had been efforts to start a Seattle library as early as 1868. There are 26 branches in the system, most of them named after the neighborhoods in...

, which uses it for heat and the Seattle Art Museum

Seattle Art Museum

The Seattle Art Museum is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, USA. It maintains three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill, and the Olympic Sculpture Park on the central Seattle waterfront, which opened on...

, which uses it for heat and humidity control.

As of 2009, Seattle Steam is in the process of adding a wood fired boiler.