Town officials say they expect Yankee Gas to propose a natural gas grid in New Canaan soon, so that there’s time left for the infrastructure work needed to offer gas service by next winter.
The Tennessee Gas Pipeline runs under New Canaan, crossing Lapham Road near this spot, off of the parking lot by the town pool and platform tennis courts. Credit: Michael Dinan
Advocates for a widely anticipated plan to tap the Tennessee Gas Pipeline say it will save the town money, as the division between fuel oil and natural gas costs is growing, and also will be safer, as restaurants downtown could use a gas line to replace propane tanks.
What’s unclear is just when gas service will be available, and just how widely, according to Utilities Commission member Scott LaShelle, the group’s expert in the area.
Utilities Commission member Scott LaShelle is an expert in the area of natural gas distribution. Credit: Michael Dinan
“Yankee [Gas] and their timeframe and their timeline for bringing gas to town still feels pretty amorphous at this point,” LaShelle said Monday night during the commission’s regular monthly meeting at the New Canaan Nature Center.
Yankee Gas right now is facing some hurdles from the state agency that regulates utilities in Connecticut, LaShelle said.
So far, about 675 homes and businesses have expressed interest in getting natural gas by filling out an online form. How that figure is divided between commercial and residential interests isn’t clear, though it’s important from a business perspective, since on average a business uses about 10 times more gas than a residence, LaShelle said.
LaShelle said he’s been in contact with Yankee Gas and that the utility’s priority now is laying out its grid—just where the main lines would run—in order to recoup the cost of getting the infrastructure in place.
The main lines that Yankee Gas already has identified would run downtown as well as across Ponus Ridge to West and Frogtown Roads, LaShelle said.
The town has signed a contract with Yankee Gas, LaShelle said. South School, Saxe Middle School and New Canaan High School are among the public buildings expected to use natural gas when it’s available, officials have said.
From a bottom-line perspective for the utility, running gas lines to individual neighborhoods and homes not on the initial mains is secondary, LaShelle said.
“The residential customers are effectively the icing on the cake,” he said.
Editor’s Note: This article in its original version had incorrectly identified the source of gas in New Canaan as a proposed gate station at Waveny tapping the Tennessee Gas Pipeline, rather than existing mains in Stamford.