[Summit] Fwd: Update on National Grid's Gas Meter Procedures

[Jonathan Howard]

I received this update from friends at the Fox Point and West Broadway  
neighborhood associations. As you may know, WBNA led and won a fight  
to stop National Grid from unilaterally installing new gas meters  
outside of homes where the meter had been inside. They now must  
consult with homeowners and try to accommodate your requests for a  
less visible location. From what I understand, Federal Hill is the  
next target area. I don't know when they will get to our neighborhood.  
Has SNA learned anything?

Begin forwarded message:
>
> --- On Mon, 9/21/09, Jessica Jennings <jj at visionwink.com> wrote:
>
> From: Jessica Jennings <jj at visionwink.com>
> Subject: Update on National Grid's Procedures
> To: Knight at yahoo.com
> Cc: "Marisa Albanese" <Marisa.Albanese at us.ngrid.com>
> Date: Monday, September 21, 2009, 6:54 PM
>
> Hi,
>
> Marisa Albanese is National Grid's new RI Community Relations  
> Coordinator (contact info below) and has been in frequent  
> communication with Kari Lang and I about how the company will  
> proceed after the passage of Senate bill S-107. Marisa has been  
> eager to make this a positive experience moving forward and has been  
> very receptive to our suggestions.
>
> National Grid is creating two standardized documents that will be  
> used throughout the state: a meter location consent form and a meter  
> location Q&A sheet. We are working with Marisa to ensure that  
> consumers' rights under state law are clearly communicated in these  
> two documents.
>
> Here's a quick review of your rights under the law:
> * For all homeowners: The gas company must consult with you to  
> determine your preference and choice regarding a suitable location  
> for a gas regulator and/or gas meters. The gas company must also  
> give preference to locations that are not visible from the street or  
> public right-of-way, and must not install gas meter(s) and/or gas  
> regulators on the front or sides of your property that face a public  
> right-of-way unless you allow it.
> * For owners of property within a National Register Historic  
> District: The gas company must not install gas meters on the outside  
> of your property without your permission and without the consent of  
> the historic district commission. In other words, you can keep your  
> meters inside your basement. When the gas supply is high pressure, a  
> small green regulator must be installed in an outside location  
> provided that it's approved by the property owner and historic  
> district commission.
>
> According to Marisa, since the passing of S-107 National Grid has  
> trained its field technicians to speak with homeowners about their  
> choice regarding meter locations. She also told us that the company  
> has met with local historic district commissions (Barrington being  
> one of them) as projects have come up this summer. As it moves  
> forward with new procedures that reflect the law, National Grid  
> states that it will contact state and local historic commissions  
> BEFORE any work is done in a given area. By the time the company  
> contacts a homeowner about meter preference, NGrid would like to  
> know who is in a historic district and who is not.
>
> In the next week, National Grid reps, Councilman Lombardi, Sen  
> Jabour, Rep Costantino, Ted Sanderson (state historic commissioner),  
> Jason Martin (Providence historic commission), Adrienne Southgate  
> (city solicitor's office), Kari and I will meet to review National  
> Grid's procedures for compliance, communication and consent, and  
> will exchange feedback.
>
> So far our experience has been promising, and we are encouraged that  
> National Grid is putting new procedures in place to address the many  
> issues we struggled with last year.
>
> More to come. Thanks!
>
> Jessica
>
> * * *
>
> Please contact Marisa with any questions or concerns:
> Marisa Albanese
> National Grid's RI Community Relations Coordinator
> 401-784-7090 (W) // 401-290-8025 (C)
> marisa.albanese at us.ngrid.com
> ___________________
>
> Jessica Jennings
> jj at visionwink.com
> 617.461.5377
>
>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://sna.providence.ri.us/pipermail/summit_sna.providence.ri.us/attachments/20090922/ea1ff950/attachment.htm>