The first gas company in the U.S., The Gas Light Company of Baltimore, Maryland, founded in 1816, struggled for years with financial and technical problems while operating on a “flat rate” basis. Its growth was slow with the charge for gas service beyond the pocketbook of the majority.
By comparison, the New York Gas Light Company, founded in 1823, prospered and expanded. They had built their system on “the use of gas meters to measure the supply of gas to customers, and a large one to register the quantity made at the station before it is conveyed to the gasometers.
The pattern of operation used by this New York company was quickly copied by other companies throughout the East Coast, including the Baltimore company. Seeing the success, New York businessmen formed new gas companies in Albany, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, etc. and the new U.S. gas distribution industry began to flourish.
