Vectren pipeline replacement program
Cities impacted in 2014: Arcanum, Bellefontaine, Covington, Dayton, Fairborn, Greenfield, Greenville, Kettering, Miamisburg, Oakwood, Piqua, Sidney, Tipp City, Troy and Xenia.
Cities impacted in coming years: Brookville, Centerville, Eaton, Fort Loramie, Germantown, Hollansburg, Jamestown, Jeffersonville, Lakeview, Lewisburg, New Paris, South Charleston, Vandalia, Versailles, Washington Court House, West Carrollton, West Milton, Wilberforce and Wilmington.
Source: Vectren Energy Delivery
Unmatched coverage
The Dayton Daily News has been covering the gas pipeline replacement by Vectren since it started in 2009. Count on us to continue our in-depth coverage on the program and the cost for consumers.
Vectren Energy Delivery is accelerating its ongoing project to replace about 725 miles of antiquated natural gas pipeline infrastructure in more than 40 cities and towns in west central Ohio, company officials said.
Vectren is ramping up its multi-year, $337.5 million bare steel and cast iron pipeline replacement program to meet federal mandates and to make up for time lost due to severe winter weather in recent months, said Chase Kelley, a company spokeswoman.
Vectren serves 315,000 customers in 17 counties in west central Ohio.
Vectren, Duke Energy, Columbia Gas and Dominion East Ohio are all part of a large-scale effort to replace cast iron or bare steel pipelines that were built prior to 1955, said Matthew Schilling, a spokesman for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
“In recognition of Ohio’s aging natural gas pipeline system, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and Ohio’s large natural gas utilities are undergoing efforts to ensure aging infrastructure is updated with modern pipeline technologies,” Schilling said
This year, Vectren will spend $35 million to replace about 57 miles of pipeline in 15 area cities, including Dayton, Fairborn, Kettering, Miamisburg, Oakwood, Tipp City, Troy, Xenia and Bellefontaine.
In an unrelated project, Vectren will spend $12.7 million replace a portion of a 3-mile, 12-inch natural gas transmission pipeline that runs beneath the Dayton International Airport.
Work on these projects is scheduled to get underway starting this month. The process can disrupt community traffic for weeks or months, and the costs are passed along to consumers over time, officials said.
Kelley said the company has been accelerating the program’s timetable over the last six months to meet requirements of the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011.
“We are getting these pipes out of the ground at a little more rapid pace. That means we are much more visible in communities,” she said.
The Pipeline Safety Act of 2011, which stemmed from a California transmission pipeline explosion in 2010, expands federal authority over pipeline safety and requires a survey to measure the progress that owners and operators have made in the replacement of cast iron pipelines.
Vectren has replaced nearly 220 miles of the 725-mile total since the program was launched in 2009. Those areas have seen a 20 percent drop in leak calls and a reduction in natural gas emissions from the distribution system, officials said.
The company is replacing gas mains, which run underneath and parallel to city streets, as well as service lines that branch off the mains to customer meters. The gas lines are being replaced with plastic pipes to ensure the continued safety of the system. Uncoated steel and cast iron are subject to corrosion.
“All of this replacement work is in the heart of downtown communities,” because most bare steel and cast iron pipelines were installed in urban areas during the 1930s and ’40s, Kelley said. That can make it inconvenient for area residents and businesses, because roadways in those areas often have high traffic volumes.
To date, Vectren has replaced 75 miles in the city of Dayton at a cost of $64 million. The company plans to replace an additional 20 miles there this year.
Vectren meets several times a year with Dayton officials to give progress updates, said Steve Finke, assistant director of operations for the city’s Public Works department. “Of course, it is disruptive to the people who live on the streets, but they do a pretty good job of getting in and out,” Finke said.
Vectren contractors will repave streets, reset sidewalks and plant grass seed as needed after the work is completed. The company posts project maps on its website and contacts customers in construction zones before work begins.
Currently, residential Vectren customers are paying $2.77 a month toward the pipeline replacement costs, according to PUCO. The commission approves the program fees, and the utilities are required to make a filing each year with PUCO for the previous year’s costs, Schilling said.
Vectren recently was granted approval from the Ohio Power Siting Board on a route location that will allow the company to move a high-pressure gas transmission pipeline beneath the Dayton Airport. Kelley said the relocation will allow the company to perform end-line inspections, as mandated by the Pipeline Safety Act of 2002, as well regular pipeline maintenance without disrupting airport traffic.
About the Author