Natural gas service to expand

#MIDDLEBURY #EVERSOURCE

Natural gas service is being offered to many Middlebury residents in the area shown here. See article for a list of the streets. (Photo courtesy Eversource)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

A natural gas service expansion program that may cost Eversource more than $2.6 million could get underway in Middlebury as early as May. The expansion offers natural gas service to 275 homes in the Three Mile Hill Road area.

Middlebury resident Lou Orsini lives there, but he didn’t know about the expansion until he read about it in the daily paper. He and his wife had been in Florida visiting their son and were away when Eversource held a community meeting April 19 to tell residents about the project and the special offers for those who sign up for the service.

Orsini said he and his wife use propane and are very satisfied with it. They use it for their furnace, fire place, grill and pool heater, but they have an electric stove and an electric clothes dryer.

He said his wife loves to cook with natural gas, which she got to do at their son’s home. But their newly remodeled Middlebury kitchen has a brand new electric stove in it.

He said whether or not they would switch to natural gas from propane would depend largely on the cost comparison between the two. A quick online search shows natural gas is much cheaper than propane at current prices here in Connecticut.

Eversource spokesperson Mitch Gross said that price differential is one advantage of natural gas over propane. Another is that you don’t have to have a storage tank or have fuel delivered to you; it is piped directly into your home. Gross also said natural gas burns much cleaner than fuel oil, with 99 percent less sulfur, and produces less carbon dioxide.

Gross said, “We continually hear from more and more people who want access to natural gas. There’s more to it than home heating and cooking. It’s also used for dryers, fuel pits, and heating swimming pools.” He said he thinks more people are considering it for financial and environmental reasons. “They are looking ahead,” he said.

First Selectman Edward B. St. John favors the expansion. He said the project is the result of the Connecticut Comprehensive Energy Strategy, a 10-year plan to expand natural gas service in the state. “If this works well,” he said, “we may expand to other parts of Middlebury.”

St. John said residents who attended the April 19 informational meeting all favored the project. And he said he understood more than 50 percent of the residents had already signed letters of intent with Eversource. “That will give those residents sewer, water and natural gas service to their homes,” he said.

Eversource is offering several incentives for folks to switch to natural gas. They will get a $250 Eversource gas bill credit, they will get a free gas main extension in the street and a free gas connection to their home from the street, and they will get low-interest financing for up to 10 years on new equipment purchases they need to make the switch. Customers also will qualify for Energize Connecticut rebates.

Gross said the weather will in large part determine how quickly this project can be completed once it gets under way, but he said projects like this are very fast-moving.

Eversource currently provides natural gas to 516 Middlebury customers, 435 of which are residential. Westover, Town Hall, the Police Department, Shepardson Community Center and Public Works use natural gas as do homes in Brookside, Steeplechase, Avalon Farms, and Ridgewood.

The following streets are included in the proposed project: Three Mile Hill Road, Acme Drive, Aveline Avenue, Bayberry Road, Bayberry Terrace, Birchwood Terrace, Blueberry Knoll, Dorothy Drive, East Ridge Drive, Gleneagle Road, Hannah Drive, Janet Drive, Jericho Road, Juniper Road, Marney Drive, Meridith Road, Nick Road, Northwood Drive, St Joseph Avenue, Skyline Drive, Southview Avenue, and Upland Road.