gas company ARRGG

Joel_3

Out here the gas company is driving us nuts. For 3 weekends in a row we have been bellow 0. And they simply run out of gas . I don't know if it's supply or if thier pipes in the ground are too small. The boilers and furnaces lock out because the pilot flame shrinks to nothing. We are seeing gas at 2inches on equipment that needs 5 minimum. They send a guy out and he tells the HO it's fine. Of course we are there at 8AM and they come around at 2 in the afternooon when demand is lower. What kills me is they are running adds to convert people from oil to gas for FREE and they don't have enough gas for the people they have now!!!!!!! I wish our state goverment would go after them but how do you get them to do that?? ARRGGGGGG

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Dave DeFord

Don't know where you are...

But in Michigan the utilities are regulated by the Michigan Public Services Commission. I have found the agency in Michigan fairly responsive but it takes a while. You might also try the local TV stations - They love this kind of stuff and it seems to me that it would be good advertising for your company especially if you can demonstrate the problem for the camera. Good luck and keep up the fight - most consumers don't have enough knowledge to fight the gas co.- it seeems that you do.

Al Letellier

got gas?????

> Out here the gas company is driving us nuts. For

> 3 weekends in a row we have been bellow 0. And

> they simply run out of gas . I don't know if it's

> supply or if thier pipes in the ground are too

> small. The boilers and furnaces lock out because

> the pilot flame shrinks to nothing. We are seeing

> gas at 2inches on equipment that needs 5 minimum.

> They send a guy out and he tells the HO it's

> fine. Of course we are there at 8AM and they come

> around at 2 in the afternooon when demand is

> lower. What kills me is they are running adds to

> convert people from oil to gas for FREE and they

> don't have enough gas for the people they have

> now!!!!!!! I wish our state goverment would go

> after them but how do you get them to do that??

> ARRGGGGGG

>

> _A

> HREF="http://www.heatinghelp.com/getListed.cfm?id=

> 254&Step=30"_To Learn More About This

> Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in

> "Find A Contractor"_/A_





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Al Letellier

got gas?????

Same thing here in Maine. Public Utilities Commission oversees all utility companies, and various associations here have done a good job promoting oil heat (with NORA funds). We've done many conversions from gas back to oil and the gas company is our best salesman, they just don't get it!!!

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Ball Valve

Here in PA the gas company is not too bad on supplying gas but God forbid if you have to call them to fix a problem. I have seen these boys faces turn blank when you try and tell them what you think is wrong. They attach thier gauge to the house line and say "plenty of gas"! Then you turn on the furnace or RTU and it sucks the gauge dry. The next thing tou hear from the gas co Is "the line is too small". They will not listen to the fact that nothing has changed in the building for years, and laugh at you when you suggest maybe the regulator has frozen up because of the ice ball that is covering it. The only way to get results is to ask them to get a supervisor on the phone, usually this will light a fire under the tail of the gas co tech and make himm think logically (sometimes). Intelligence must not be a prerequisite for the jobs at the gas co.

Phil_6

same here on long island..

... it's always something other than low gas pressure supposedly, even though as you said, things were fine for years. As a previous poster said, when you're there at 8:30 AM and there's barely a flame under the boiler and you call them, and then they come in the afternoon and tell the cust everything is fine. Sure, NOW it's fine.....

Paul Bock_2

We have a gas pressure

chart recorder that will track the incoming pressure over a given time period. I think we got it at graingers. they have a tougher time refuting that kind of evidence.

scrook_2

MA dept of Telecomm and Energy...

You're south central MA if I recall... keep notes, time of call time of check, pressure's measured etc. & contact the Massachusetts Deptment of Telecommunications and Energy:
http://www.state.ma.us/dpu/gas/index.htm
and
http://www.state.ma.us/dpu/news/city.htm

Try to contact the utility first (higher up than the service number), if that fails cc all corespondance with MA DTE to the utility also.

Could be lack of supply, but more likely icing of old mains, house feeds, meters, etc., possibly inadaquate main capacity for peak demand. In particular pay attention to gas main pressure unfired vs fired -- if the service main pressure's fine unfired and dropps off on firing,then it is a local obstruction (e.g. iced meter) if always too low than the problem is farther upstream (e.g. inadaquate main capacity).

Good luck, and hang in there!

Unknown

Most gas company personnel

now days are very poorly trained. some of them do not even understand their own product and its limitations. They will ultimately be the losers.

Training costs money and comes of the bottom line so it is one of the first things to go. In my last year with the utility my training budget for the year was $650,000. The next year it was $75,000 and has never gone back up since. They in fact have shut down a $500,000 training center and never use it at all.

It is also not unusual this time of year to have gas supply problems. The use of LNG was supposed to solve those problems. It is a fact that over selling in certain areas can contibute to the possiblity of the main and service system not being able to meet the early morning and early evening demand placed on the system.

Be careful about low pressures as it can cause delayed igntion and in some cases Carbon Monoxide problems. No system that drops below 4" W.C. pressure should be left running. At the least shut off all non-essential gas equipment dryers, cooking, decorative fireplaces, gas lights, and even water heaters. At least you can give them heat.

Bruce_6

here is

a link to the ones I have seen.

I have seen these on systems before, they are pretty accurate. and will record up to 7 days!

chart recorder

Bruce_6

here is

a link to the ones I have seen.

I have seen these on systems before, they are pretty accurate. and will record up to 7 days!

chart recorder

joel_14

Gas

Ya it's not just me it's all over east/central mass. I was at a meeting Monday night with about 15-20 companies there and EVERYBODY in the room had similar problems. one guy did have a recording meter and at that house the gas fell all the way to 1.75.That info was given to the gas tech and he just had a blank stare. The other contractor is trying further up the food chain but it's like talking to the RMV. Going to a T.V station has been brought up but everybody is scared to do it. They are afraid to get on the gas companies bad side because then you'll have a nightmare of a time getting lines installed,meters set etc. I agree with the other post about switching people from gas to oil. I always try to talk people into oil. It is easier to get service (if for some reason we couldn't get there), It is cheaper to run and has been for several years. Plus you don't have to deal with a utility who doesn't care about you. The only thing that remotely keeps me liking gas at all is the ability to use the Vitodens!

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Be glad you're not here!

Electric & gas both from the same utility company. Taken over by an Illinois company a few years ago--I believe one of the ones involved in the bribery scandal with the IL governor (formerly IL attorney general).

We too have a state Public "Dis-service" Commission but considering some of their actions I'd swear that their "public stewards" either getting bribe money or own stock in the utility. They instituted a "change" in electric billing practice that was supposed to reduce cost to comsumers--instead they were found to have overcharged by nearly 200 million in just a couple of years. They were only required to rebate about 20 million to their customers, kick in a few million more for the "poor people who can't afford their winter utility bill" program, and a weird subsidized rebate program (in big box stores) for compact fluorescents that ran out of supply (locally at least) in just a couple of days!

An insert with a recent statement was amazing! First it talked about how well they were controlling the cost of natural gas this season by securing a supply at good cost (Enron-style companies are still out there people!). Then it went on to say that they were appealing to the PSC for a 30% or so raise in their "fixed" cost of delivering gas! PSC found that their request was at least 50% greater than it should be and it's still unknown when/if it's going to rise. Our gas bill is nearly impossible to decipher--everything is thrown together in a single line and you really have no idea whatsoever about the cost of a unit of billing. While they claim that all their Missouri customers everywhere have the exact same "fixed" charge this is not true! They are able to "hide" certain types of add-on charges. The communities surrounding us (not served by this company) actually had a reduction in natural gas cost this year (and it was lower to begin with)--of course ours went up again and has nearly tripled in four years.

They also used to control our water system. A few years ago they graciously offered to sell to the city saying, "No problems with the system we just don't want to be in the water business anymore." City bought it--hook, line and sinker. Guess what? Within two years we had to pass a tax to greatly increase capacity and make "sorely needed" repairs.

I'd almost swear that our utility also has interests in the NE and is subsidizing the "free" boilers and furnaces there with our dollars.

Boiler Guy

Recycled Rednecks

You guys aren't alone! Up here in Canada where a lot of your supply comes from the Gas Co people are no brighter.
You are absolutely right... NO CLUE. Most of them still think milk comes from Safeway and gas just magicly flows outta the ground. Gas is clean and dry.. right ... NOT!! Minus 59f here today and we had a whole town without gas from 5AM. Gotta give some of them a liitle credit though -- everyone jumped to the pump got all systems shut down and 90% were back up and running by 4:30PM. (hope nobody froze their lips to the pump trying to prime it). Of course now all us service guys will somehow be blamed.

joel_14

swampy

Nice and I thought we where the only ones. My electric bill last month was about 90 bucks but 41!!!!! Of that was stupid add on charges not the actual juice

Unknown

Hey guys I saw this coming

that is why after working for a gas utility for 28 years (18 of those in management)and being downsized in 1994 I had insider info on what was coming. The name of the game is bottom line. It is no longer caring for their employees or their cutomers. Please do not think I am bitter or that I have some grudge against the gas companies that is not the case. I have done better financially, mentally and in all other ways since I left. They did me a favor.

As for the cost of fuel I also saw that coming. I installed a "Pellet Stove" 4 years ago. My fuel bill for last year gas and pellets $380 for the entire winter. I can tell you that the gas does not come on very often. The surcharges and cost of gas adjustments will kill you that is for sure. At least around here they have to break the bill down as to each cost, that is even more frustrating when you realize you are paying them for the privledge of using their product.

scrook_2

go for theTV

They'll get all over it like a cheap suit on a used car salesman!

You say you're worried about being blacklisted by the utility, but you report these guys wouldn't know low gas pressure even if you HIT them w/ the manometer, and that upper management want only to install more gas: now do you think they'll really cut you off, let alone recall that you were the one who dropped a dime on them to the local TV news? Also what do you thing it will do for the utilities reputation if a customer can't get service or a meter installed in a reasonable period of time?

I do not begrudge them wanting to sell more gas, but they need to maintain/upgrade their infrastructure fast enough to keep pace w/ demand and they need to train their service guys -- if it takes a TV news spot help move them along, so be it.

You do heating system installs, oil and gas but don't sell fuel, so you don't have a vested interest, so I wouldn't worry. You gotta call'm as you see'm.