How Usage Affects Your Bill
Guidance for winter season gas bills.
Information on this page is for customers in
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How We Prepare Our Gas Systems for Winter
Throughout the year and long before winter formally begins, we are hard at work ensuring that the natural gas distribution system our customers depend on for heat during New England’s coldest days is operating safely and reliably.
What We Do To Prepare For Winter
- Complete all federal and state compliance activities as well as planned gas main projects before mid-November when most municipalities enforce a winter construction moratorium on their roads for all but emergency work before winter. This ensures safe operations when the temperatures drop.
- Conduct annual pipeline leak surveys by both walking and mobile survey.
- Upgrade and maintain seven Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) facilities that are often called upon on the coldest days to fill supply gaps when natural gas pipelines serving New England are most constrained.
- Review gas system pressures and correct any abnormal conditions.
- Conduct additional leak surveys on cast-iron mains at first frost, or no later than January 1, to identify frost-related stress or ground movement that could compromise a gas main’s operation.
What You Can Do To Prepare for Winter
- Seal air leaks around doors and windows. Apply weatherstripping or caulk to seal gaps and cracks around windows and doors to stop air leaks and prevent energy loss. If that is not an option, you can also cover windows with towels, sheets or plastic to help keep the warm air in your house.
- Reduce the temperature on your water heater. Set the temperature on your hot water tank to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or put it on the “warm” setting.
- Change or clean air filters. Dirty air filters can lead to dust, dirt and grime buildup on the heating components, causing the furnace to use more energy and increasing the risk of malfunction. A clean filter on your furnace can lower your energy consumption by 5 to 15%.
- Keep your fireplace damper closed unless a fire is burning. Leaving the damper open is like keeping a window wide open – warm air goes right up the chimney.
