Gas utilities set in motion plans to replace aging mains
Philadelphia-area motorists should prepare for an era of detours as the region's utilities move ahead to accelerate replacement of aging gas mains.
Philadelphia-area motorists should prepare for an era of detours as the region's utilities move ahead to accelerate replacement of aging gas mains.
Philadelphia Gas Works, which has been under pressure from state regulators to upgrade its brittle infrastructure, has filed plans to remove all its cast-iron mains from service in 48 years, up from 86 years under its current plan.
PGW, a municipal utility that serves 500,000 city customers, would pay for the gas-main replacements by increasing a surcharge on customers' monthly bills.
Its request last week coincided with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission's Sept. 3 approval of Peco Energy Co.'s plan to impose the customer surcharge.
Peco, which has more than 500,000 gas customers in suburban counties, received PUC approval in May to increase gas-main infrastructure spending from $34 million a year to $61 million a year, accelerating the pace at which it upgrades at-risk pipes from 34 years to 20 years.
Peco's surcharge is currently set at zero, said Cathy Engel Menendez, the utility's spokeswoman. The PUC's approval means the framework is now in place through which Peco can pay for improvements.
New Jersey gas customers are also likely to see more new gas mains buried beneath their streets in the coming years.
The state Board of Public Utilities is considering a request from Public Service Electric & Gas Co. to spend $1.6 billion over the next five years to upgrade its gas distribution network, nearly tripling the replacement rate of high-risk mains.
After several fatal gas-main explosions in 2010 and 2011, federal and state regulators stepped up pressure on utilities to replace distribution systems, particularly cast-iron mains that are more prone to leaks.
In Pennsylvania, the legislature approved the distribution system improvement charge, or DSIC, after deadly gas-main explosions in Philadelphia and Allentown in 2011. The funding mechanism allows utilities to increase distribution rates up to 5 percent to pay for improvements.
PGW, which began imposing the surcharge in 2013, is now requesting a waiver from the PUC that would allow it to raise the surcharge to 7.5 percent. It also seeks to "levelize" the charge so that it no longer fluctuates quarterly, depending on spending.
PGW cited a PUC report this year that suggested ways it could improve its infrastructure.
"A growing consensus has developed that PGW should attempt to further expedite the removal of its at-risk main," the utility said in its filing.
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