Manhattan does something similar - waste steam from power plants is piped through to customers who use it for hot water, heating, and AC (most likely via absorp

Manhattan does something similar - waste steam from power plants is piped through to customers who use it for hot water, heating, and AC (most likely via absorption refrigeration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_absorption_refrigerator http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_absorption_refrigerator ). I read once that some buildings use the steam to run backup generators in case of power failure, but I can't seem to find that source anymore - so take it with a grain, so to speak.