Eversource: New Canaan Residents Can Influence Natural Gas Expansion Plan In Out Years

Following an initial roll-out of natural gas in New Canaan through 2020—a three-phase project starting next year that will see a trunk line come into town from Stamford, up South Avenue to the business district and then out to East School, with nearby residences along the way—property owners themselves can influence just where the utility brings natural gas, officials say.

For Eversource—at least through 2024, under a state-backed expansion plan—the question of where in New Canaan the gas lines will go is in some ways a math equation, according to John Ferrelli, the company’s Waterbury-based supervisor of business account services: The cost of installation must be offset by the load delivered.

“Customer demand will dictate the path of opportunity beyond the initial outline, as well as new construction and conversions,” Ferrelli told members of the Town Council at their regular meeting.

“Future growth potential will be driven by customer interest, customer demand,” Ferrelli said at the July 19 meeting, held at Town Hall. “And that’s where the company will look to expand [starting in 2020]. It may also coincide with roads that need to be repaved whereby you have a sewer project or something like that.”

He added: “The bigger emphasis is on: ‘OK, is there something being built that warrants us extending the gas main to serve the surrounding community?’ ”

The comments came in response to Town Councilman John Engel.

“What is the ability of a business or a neighborhood to influence your plan?” Engel asked. Noting that scattered high-density properties in residential zones—such as the Country Club of New Canaan, St. Luke’s School and New Canaan Country School—rely on fuel though they’re surrounded by homes, Engel asked whether all those parties should start coordinating to develop proposed gas line routes connecting them. He gave the example of an imagined “Route 123” line that could hit the New Canaan Field Club coming out of town on its way to the Country Club, with condominiums and other homes along the way.

Ferrelli said: “If there is significant interest and opportunities, our company is going to be very interested” in such proposals.

The comments came during an update for New Canaan’s legislative body on an agreement unveiled at a Utilities Commission meeting two weeks ago and approved 2-1 by the Board of Selectmen.

In 2018, under its plan, Eversource will install 4.7 miles of 12-inch plastic trunk line in New Canaan, connecting to five large buildings—Waveny Care Center, New Canaan High School, South School, Saxe Middle School and the New Canaan YMCA—and an additional 4.5 miles of gas main, reaching an estimated 200 homes.

The next year, 2019, Eversource would install a total of eight more miles of gas main, including three miles within the downtown, reaching 40 commercial buildings, and another 260 homes along the South Avenue corridor.

In the third and final phase of the initial roll-out, in 2020, the company would lay another three miles of gas main, bringing in 50 additional commercial businesses downtown and 250 residences.

Councilmen asked how Eversource planned to reach out to local residents (neighborhood forums), whether the company planned to make it clear what streets specifically would be offered gas first (yes, that will come from corporate communications), what deal has been struck regarding the restoration of roads (New Canaan’s public works officials have reached an agreement with the company), who would pay or the restoration (Eversource), whether local contractors or construction crews are used for these jobs (no, those who oversee installation must be “operator-qualified,” as per oversight agencies at the state level), whether the company would plan to “dig up” the alleys located behind businesses in the central business district rather than Main and Elm Streets themselves in installing gas lines (probably), whether Eversource would seek to install the gas lines by coming down the road or in the lanes alongside them (the roads themselves because many driveways have expensive aprons, such as those with Belgian block).

Town Council member Penny Young asked about what New Canaan could expect in terms of “disruption” to its roads.

“Because being a legislative body, we are going to hear a lot,” she said.

Ferrelli answered that New Canaan can expect multiple construction crews with trucks and backhoes working on “trenching” for the gas lines.

“We have to utilize either the police force or flaggers to direct traffic in busy areas, so throughout the business area, throughout where the schools are at Waveny, the YMCA, you certainly will see a police presence watching and protecting,” he said.

Ferrelli added that at some point a regularly updated map that shows where Eversource crews are working and where they’re going next might be linked to New Canaan’s municipal website in order to communicate effectively with locals.

Noting that the plan calls for the high school to have gas by next summer—and that New Canaan now is looking at an approximately $100,000 project to replace a boiler and oil tank at the 25,000-square-foot Waveny House—Town Councilman Kevin Moynihan asked what would be the prospects of getting natural gas there.

Ferrelli said another plus of such a job is that there already would be crews working in the area.

“Every job that we look to serve, we will take look at what the anticipated gas volume is as compared to what they would consume with oil,” he said.