Town: Some Condos in Town on Track To Get Natural Gas This Year

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The utility company that started bringing natural gas into New Canaan two years ago now is looking to expand into condominium developments in town, officials said Monday.

Eversource’s plans for this year include the 18-unit King’s Grant complex on Main Street, as well as Canaan Parish at Lakeview Avenue and Route 123 and “a couple of other areas where they are heavily served by condominiums,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann.

“And there are some interior mains that have to be installed there, quite substantial main installations in the property itself, so in King’s Grant they have several hundred feet to do,” Mann told members of the Selectmen’s Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure during their regular meeting, held via videoconference. 

“We are hoping that they will continue to go down Locust to get to the Board of Ed building and the other large brick buildings that are on the corner of Cherry and Locust. We have asked them to look at the expansion on Pine Street, Grove Street and upper Elm Street.”

Many residential streets off of the gas main that comes into New Canaan through Old Stamford Road already have natural gas service as a result of the long-sought Eversource expansion, as do larger complexes such as The Vue at Park and Maple Streets, formerly known as ‘Merritt Village.’

Mann said that Eversource has a list of businesses in downtown New Canaan that are seeking to seeking to get natural gas, including Karl Chevrolet and Walter Stewart’s. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said that the building at Elm and Grove Streets that Bankwell is to use for its headquarters also could get natural gas. 

“My feeling is that unless we push Eversource to do as much as they can while they’re still under this three-year commitment, they are going to go away and we will never get them back,” Moynihan said.

In 2018, Eversource brought a natural gas main into New Canaan and service to 30 roads. Last year, the project extended five additional miles, with another five planned for 2020. Those seeking hook-ups along the route have three years get that work done before a rolling two-year moratorium goes into effect.

Yet the COVID-19 public health emergency has stalled some plans. Mann said, “As far as other needing gas services, we are waiting for some answers from Eversource themselves as the governor starts to open up the rest of the state to new expansion.”

Committee member Neil Budnick asked whether West School is scheduled to get natural gas. Mann said Eversource is “looking at it for next year” and an installation is possible for the spring or summer of 2021.

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