AUB 'Uprating' Gas System Pressure To Increase Cold-Weather Reliability

Media Contact:

Wayne Scarbrough

(423) 745-4501 ext. 6002

wscarbrough@aub.org

May 3, 2018

ATHENS, Tenn. – On Monday, May 7, AUB will begin increasing the operating pressure of its natural gas distribution system in a large swath of territory along the Highway 39 East corridor including all of Cumberland Hills and in a section of Athens.

The rather large area involved in the work goes from near Veteran’s Park in Athens along Central Avenue to Slack Road on the northern work-boundary, south to County Road 571 and the area of the airport, and on the eastern boundary from County Road 432 west to Highway 30.

AUB employees will do the work, which should be complete by midweek, weather permitting.

“Any home or business in the work area that has a gas meter or meter riser will see AUB crews using leak detectors to interrogate and monitor conditions along the length of each service line in every yard right up to the gas meter,” said AUB’s Wayne Scarbrough.

This is a routine and required safety measure to ensure that as pressures are increased, no leaks are created.

By increasing the operating pressure from 20 psi to 50 psi, a process called “uprating,” the risk of cold weather service interruptions is significantly decreased, Scarbrough said.

AUB has uprated other sections of its service territory in the past, and this project is a continuation to address the system as needed to ensure reliability during times of high demand for natural gas.

“Back in January and February when we had several days of extreme cold, some customers’ pilot lights went out as a function of very high demand on the system.  Everyone’s home heating systems were kicking on and running hard simultaneously,” Scarbrough said.

“This uprate should help avoid that in coming winters,” he said.

AUB appealed to the community on the coldest days last winter to be conservative with electric heating systems because of extreme demand on the power grid.  The demand on gas distribution systems during extreme cold is similar in impact.

“The uprating is performed in a measured and methodical manner to minimize risk to the gas system, that’s why it takes a few days to complete,” Scarbrough said.

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