Negotiators from Northern Utilities and the state of Maine are close to a deal about how quickly the company should replace a network of natural gas pipes.
The details should be released later this week and will be voted on March 22 by the Public Utilities Commission.
“It’s a verbal agreement at this stage, and I don’t want to talk about it until we have it committed to a document,” said PUC attorney Carol MacLennan.
The company has been replacing cast iron pipe sections, like the one blamed for a January 2004 explosion on Main Street, Lewiston, at a rate of about 3 miles per year since 1985.
At that rate, the utility would replace all existing cast iron within the next 43 years.
The Maine Office of the Public Advocate wants the utility to replace its statewide 122-mile-long cast iron network within the next 10 years, according filings with the Public Utilities Commission.
Faster replacement could be more expensive for natural gas customers through 2014, according to PUC filings. The PUC filings estimate costs would increase by about 5 percent to pay for the work for the next 10 years. On the other hand, the cost should go down by the same amount after 2014.
A leaking cast-iron pipe led to an explosion on Jan. 12, 2004, on Main Street in Lewiston, according to the PUC. The blast and a subsequent fire demolished Lewiston Radiator Works and the former Hotel Holly. Five people were injured.
Comments are no longer available on this story