PUC investigating ongoing natural gas outage in Beaver County - The Times

PUC investigating ongoing natural gas outage in Beaver County
Chrissy Suttles

Pennsylvania’s Public Utility Commission is investigating the cause of an ongoing natural gas outage affecting thousands of Beaver County residents.

As Columbia Gas crews work to restore gas service to approximately 4,000 residents in Baden, Conway, Economy and Freedom, pipeline safety engineers from the PUC’s safety division are evaluating the circumstances of the dayslong interruption.

Thousands of Beaver County residents remain without natural gas Tuesday after Columbia Gas shut down service as a safety precaution Sunday night.

More: Thousands without natural gas service in Beaver County

Columbia Gas cut service “out of an abundance of caution” after technicians identified an issue with natural gas introduced into the system by a third-party gas supplier. Full service restoration is expected to take several days.

The cause of the outage appears to involve a gas supply interruption from a third-party supplier, according to the PUC, but the investigation is preliminary. The commission is working to determine whether the circumstances of the outage violated state or federal pipeline safety regulations. The PUC is in communication with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

By Monday afternoon, Columbia Gas technicians had turned off all gas meters in the area. The process of purging the gas distribution system, restoring the flow of natural gas and performing safety checks at individual homes and businesses is ongoing.

Crews will go door-to-door to perform safety checks and relight natural gas appliances. All Columbia Gas employees and contractors wear a company-issued photo identification badge. Residents with questions should call Columbia Gas’ customer line at 888-460-4332.

Columbia Gas partnered with the American Red Cross and emergency management officials to open a warming center at the Conway Borough Municipal Building, 801 First Ave. The shelter has refreshments and cots and blankets for customers in need of accommodations during the outage.

A full list of streets affected by the outage can be found at www.columbiagaspa.com/services/alert-center.