Providence homeowners are facing off against utilities company National Grid over the installation of gas meters on the exteriors of local homes.
While National Grid insists that the new meters are necessary, even for homes already equipped with interior gas readers, neighborhood associations citywide are fighting for the right of property owners to refuse the installation of new meters.
Pressure from the Fox Point and West Broadway Neighborhood Associations, in addition to support from local leaders led the City Council to pass an ordinance requiring utility companies such as National Grid to obtain written consent from property owners before installing exterior meters. The ordinance, which went into effect in December, gives the Providence Housing Court the jurisdiction to fine companies that fail to do so.
National Grid has appealed to the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission and is awaiting action, David Graves, the company's spokesman, said, adding that access to the sidewalks outside of private homes has previously been available to National Grid and is a part of the basic customer contract.
National Grid is replacing the current gas lines with new ones, which contain gas at a pressure up to ninety-nine pounds per square inch.
"You obviously can't put that amount of pressure in the home, so we want to put the meter outside along with a regulator," Graves said.
Residents are opposed to the installations for a number of reasons.
"Every gas supply is stepped down (reduced in pressure) by a gas regulator, so the high-pressure gas comes to the regulator and it's stepped down so it can serve all of our appliances," said Jessica Jennings, a West Broadway Neighborhood Association board member. "The regulator needs to be outside. Everything after that - the meters - can be inside."
Ian Barnacle, a local real estate agent, agreed.
"The historic commission is up in arms ... for aesthetic reason," he said. "My other concern is for safety. Who's to say that someone won't crash a car into the side of a house with an outdoor gas meter?"
Jennings is less worried about the safety of the new meters. "The biggest problem people have with this is that they're not being consulted at all. ... People want to participate in this process and that is what they are feeling robbed of, that's where people are feeling a sense of infringement on their rights."
But Graves said the company has done nothing wrong. "We've never replaced a meter without direct discussion with the property owner so that they're aware of why we're doing what we're doing," he said.
Like Barnacle, Graves also invoked the public safety argument, but to argue for outdoor gas meters. In case of a fire, for example, Graves said the gas service must be turned off before firefighters can access the building, and placing the meters outside would be more efficient.
If the ordinance were repealed, Jennings said the West Broadway Neighborhood Association would push for regulatory legislation at the state level. "We're kind of looking around, saying, 'How are we going to be protected at the end of the day?'" she said. "It's a classic David and Goliath story."
