Ogdensburg weighs natural gas for some residents

By Vera Olinski
OGDENSBURG — Ogdensburg residents and the Borough Council heard from a representative of Elizabethtown Gas Thursday, July 13, about the possibility of bringing natural gas to four developments in the borough: Presidents, Glenbrook, Beardslee and Bettino. Residents there currently use oil and propane.
Gary Marmo, Elizabethtown Gas director of sales, presented an overview of Elizabethtown Gas, natural gas and the process of bringing natural gas to Ogdensburg residents.
Mayor Steve Ciasullo said that Elizabethtown Gas currently runs off of Main Street in Ogdensburg. It is offering natural gas to residents where it becomes economical to bring natural gas lines in front of homes.
Elizabethtown Gas would like to bring natural gas from the main to the meter — at no charge. From that point, the homeowner would be responsible to hire a HVAC contractor to convert appliances inside the home to natural gas. Marmo said, residents would convert primarily heat and hot water.
As a public utility, Marmo continued, Elizabeth Gas is regulated on how it extends services to new neighborhoods. Per regulation, it does not make money on the gas, but rather on transporting the gas to customers.
He explained that they work with a 10:1 ratio, with the goal of having enough neighbors sign up to eliminate any customer contribution. Marmo also reviewed a contribution formula to determine any potential customer cost to extend natural gas service to the customer's home.
In order to pipe natural gas at no charge, Marmo said, of the 170 homes in the Presidents development, 110 residents need to sign up for service — about 65 percent; 60 of about 91 homes in the Glenbrook development; 46 of the 67 homes in the Beardslee development; and about 50 of the 76 homes in the Bettino development.
Residents interested in converting to natural gas are asked to complete an interest survey by Aug. 15, which can be found at surveymonkey.com/r/OgdensburgSurvey.
In response to residents' requests asking for the whole town to be surveyed, Elizabethtown Gas added an “Other” category to the survey, during the meeting.
Marmo explained that the survey gives initial interest. Next, after Elizabethtown Gas gets enough signed commitments from homeowners, it will start to install the gas main.
Also, after signing commitments, Marmo said, residents have a one-year period from when the lines are installed, to convert the heat and hot water over to natural gas.
Ciasullo responded to some residents concerned about being excluded. He said that it is not about leaving anyone out; it is about seeing if natural gas is feasible — starting with a core group.
In response to concerns about converting to natural gas resulting in higher property taxes, Ciasullo later verified with the tax department that if a resident replaces a boiler or furnace in his or her home, taxes should not increase.
From an affordability point, Marmo explained, heating an average home with propane costs $1,644; with oil $1,196; and with natural gas $498.
He added that the American Gas Association completed a study showing the average nationwide resale value of a natural gas home increases 4 percent.
Marmo explained that natural gas is domestically produced and provides about 3 million jobs in the United States.
In addition, Marmo said, the natural gas supply is about a 100-year supply, to which more natural gas reserves are added each year. He added that 2,400 trillion cubic feet of natural gas is available – “We are not going to run out anytime soon,” he said.
Marmo said gas could be in each home within a year, after permits, design, scheduling construction and laying 500 feet of main a day. “Once we get the commitments,” he continued, “We're going.”
Elizabethtown Gas was formed in 1855, when it installed 300 gas lights in the city of Elizabeth to help reduce crime. In 2016, Southern Company Gas acquired Elizabethtown Gas and serves 286,000 customers in seven New Jersey counties: Union, Middlesex, Hunterdon, Sussex, Warren, and parts of Mercer and Morris counties.
Southern Co. also serves 9.5 million customers in seventeen states. It is the second largest natural gas and electric provider, and the largest gas only supplier in the United States.