History of UW's Power Plant
The evolution of the University of Washington's energy system
Since the very beginning, the University of Washington's Seattle campus has used an on-campus plant to help power campus. The technology and needs have changed over time, and today the UW is embarking on a project to modernize the plant and move away from fossil fuels. Learn more about how we have powered our campus over the years.
This 1927 aerial view of campus shows the power plant. See the smoke stack in the center-right part of the image, above the football stadium bowl.
In this 1949 image, the campus has grown and the power plant (upper right in the image) has expanded.
1957 photo showing the Burke and Daniel Gilman Railway running alongside the power plant
During the first half of the 20th century, larger boilers were installed in the plant. The new boilers ran on pulverized coal, so the plant installed a rooftop system for storing the coal and feeding it to the burners.
The coal for the power plant was delivered on the Thomas Burke and Daniel Gilman’s SLS&E Railway.
The railway, including the spur to deliver coal to the plant, can be seen on the 1972 campus map, shown below with an overlay of the current map.
Learn more about the UW's Energy Transformation strategy at sustainability.uw.edu/energy-transformation .
Contact sustainability@uw.edu to learn about opportunities for students and faculty to engage with this effort, or contact David Woodson, the executive director of Campus Energy, Utilities and Operations, who is leading much of the effort, at dwoodson@uw.edu .
