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Damaged pipeline leaves Center and Shelbyville without natural gas -
CenterPoint Energy crews worked Friday through Sunday repairing a damaged natural gas pipeline serving Center and Shelbyville and restoring service to customers. Submitted photo | The Light and Champion
A damaged pipeline left many local CenterPoint Energy customers without natural gas Friday night and Saturday morning. The majority of service was reported as restored by late Sunday night. Follow-up at some locations where contact could not be made earlier continued throughout the day Monday.
Most affected customers received the first notice of problems in a text message sent from Center Fire Chief Keith Byndom via Center’s emergency management message system at 9:50 p.m. Friday night. The alert read, “Due to damage to third-party pipeline, CenterPoint Energy is experiencing a natural gas outage in Center and Shelbyville.”
According to a CenterPoint Energy press release issued late Friday, the damaged natural gas pipeline is owned by a third-party supplier, not by CenterPoint Energy.
A second message from Byndom at 10:15 p.m. Friday stated, “CenterPoint Energy is in the processes of turning off each customer’s natural gas meter. Once the pipeline company finalizes necessary repairs, crews will need to manually turn each meter back on. For safety reasons, CenterPoint Energy urges customers not to turn any valves or tamper with the natural gas meter. John Seal, District Director at CenterPoint Energy stated the restoration process might take several days.”
The damaged pipeline was reported to be repaired by around 12:35 p.m. Saturday, according to Byndom in a follow-up text. Byndom’s message also issued a caution to gas customers stating, “However, before the pipeline is turned back on, every service meter has to be turned off and a CenterPoint Energy representative will come inside your home to relight pilot lights of needed and check for leaks. If no one is home, then they will come back later. Sorry for any inconvenience but safety is the main priority.”
From that point Saturday afternoon CenterPoint Energy personnel went door-to-door turning on meters, relighting pilot lights and checking for leaks until after 10 p.m. Saturday night, continuing Sunday morning at 7 a.m. Reports of personnel working on minimal hours of sleep to get service restored
were frequent.
According to Center-Point Energy, the natural gas outage affected approximately 1,500 customers in Center and Shelbyville. A fleet of service vehicles covered the parking lot at the John D. Windham Civic Center throughout the weekend where Center-Point Energy established a command center.
The natural gas provider reported restored service by late Sunday, Jan. 7. Vehicles were still seen throughout Center on Monday, Jan. 8, primarily at businesses that were closed during the weekend or residences where CenterPoint Energy Energy employees could not gain access to finish the task of turning on meters and checking service.
A blue tag was left at each location where service representatives could not make contact. The number to call for assistance on any remaining service locations is 888551-4011.
“We greatly appreciate our customers’ cooperation and patience as our employees worked as quickly as we could to restore natural gas service safely,” said Seale.