18  ILLINOIS BUSINESS LEADER
18  ILLINOIS BUSINESS LEADER
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
This year, Peoples Gas is celebrating 
its 175th anniversary. On Sept. 4, 
1850, the company became Chicago’s 
first utility when gas started flowing 
beneath Lake Street to power lamps. 
In that era, a team of lamplighters 
traveled throughout the growing city, 
manually lighting each gas lamp, 
illuminating Chicago with the new 
technology.
	
Today, Peoples Gas delivers 
energy across Chicago’s 77 distinct 
neighborhoods and has technologies 
that include renewable natural gas, 
zero-carbon hydrogen, pipes made of 
high-tech materials and ultraefficient 
gas heat pumps.
	
Two things remain unchanged 
over the past 175 years at Peoples Gas 
— providing safe and reliable service, 
and a focus on the future.
A MEETING OF THE ERAS
Chicago’s past, present and future are 
intertwined with the work of Peoples 
Gas. Such a parallel was perhaps never 
made clearer than this April, when our 
union construction crews unearthed 
and officially retired a section of gas 
main that served Chicago’s downtown 
for 164 years. The pipe section was 
Maria Bocanegra, President 
Peoples Gas
originally installed in 1861, the year 
Abraham Lincoln became president. 
	
The pipe’s removal is part of our 
larger effort to retire all of Chicago’s 
aging iron natural gas mains near­
ing the end of their useful lives. The 
old mains are being replaced with 
modern pipes made of high-tech 
plastic that better weathers Chicago’s 
freeze-and-thaw cycles, and is less 
prone to leaks.
EYES ON A BRIGHT, 
SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Chicago’s modernized energy system 
also will ensure ongoing delivery of 
decarbonized energy such as renew­
able natural gas. This energy is in the 
Peoples Gas system today thanks to 
our partnership with a communi­
ty-oriented energy producer on the 
city’s south side. The Green Era cam­
pus creates renewable natural gas by 
diverting food waste from landfills. 
This prevents carbon from hitting the 
atmosphere.
	
The new pipes we install also 
position Chicago for hydrogen to 
eventually be blended into the energy 
mix. Peoples Gas recently tested 
hydrogen at our training facility. 
On Sept. 4, 1850, 
the company became 
Chicago’s first utility 
when gas started 
flowing beneath Lake 
Street to power lamps. 
Peoples Gas at 175 | Proud of its Past, Focused on 

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