Photo by Steve Klamkin WPRO News
By Steve Klamkin WPRO News
As crews dug up Vista Drive in the Rumford section of East Providence Thursday, neighbors came out into the street to welcome the work, and for some, it will provide their first connection to a natural gas line.
“We’re going to be nice and warm, we won’t worry about keeping it to 60 degrees, and we’ll be comfortable,” said Tom Brun, a resident of the street for 20 years who rounded up neighbors to commit to a National Grid pilot program that brings natural gas to areas that have gone unserved.
Brun said he expects to save money by converting his heating system from oil to natural gas.
“It will be a good feeling, we’re really excited about it, we really are,” said Brun, who posted a hand letter sign on his lawn reading, “Welcome National Grid!”
A National Grid crew using a backhoe and other heavy equipment dug a trench up Vista Drive to lay new, plastic pipe at the rate of about 300 feet a day, said spokesman David Graves.
“They’re making pretty good headway, we’ve got some, I think very excited neighbors here who’ve been actively working for years to get gas service installed in their neighborhood,” said Graves.
Three other neighborhoods in Cranston are part of the pilot program, approved by the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission to spread the cost of the expansion across all of the utility’s Rhode Island ratepayers. Individual homeowners are expected to bear the cost of the connection from the street, estimated to cost about $950.
