Power Station
The power station was built by the Sunderland District Electric Tramways Ltd and the Durham Collieries Power Company to provide electricity for the local district tramway and collieries it was planned for the station to open in May 1905, but its opening was delayed slightly, also delaying the electrification of the tramway it didn't begin providing electricity for the tramway until 10 June 1905. The station was provided with coal from the nearby Dorothea Pit and by 1911, the station was part of the Newcastle upon Tyne Electric Supply Company's system.

National Coal Board
After closing, the station was used as a central garage by the National Coal Board. The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalized coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "vesting day", 1 January 1947. In 1987, the NCB was renamed the British Coal Corporation, and its assets were subsequently privatized.

The Northern National Restoration Group
After closing in 2014 the hall stood derelict for around five years, allowing the building to deteriorate, in November 2019 the NNRG moved into the hall where they house their fleet. The station's generating hall still stands today, along with two smaller associated buildings which are all Grade II listed. The generating hall is a single-gabled yellow brick-built building with red brick dressings and felt roofing and is currently one of a number of workshops on the Philadelphia Complex.