2,200 Vectren customers to be affected by gas outage in Dayton

UPDATE @ 5 p.m.:

Vectren has shut off the gas meters to nearly 900 customers and are targeting to have all 2,200 off by the end of the day Friday, according to an update from Chase Kelley, Vectren vice president, marketing & communications.

The outage is necessary to purge natural gas from the gas mains to complete pipeline replacement work following an outage in Linden Heights in Dayton.

“Most of the gas meters are indoors, so this is a door-to-door-process and so far, it’s going slowly given many customers, not surprisingly, have not been home,” said Kelley. At least one adult needs to be home until the meter has been shut off.

Meanwhile, crews are preparing various purge points on the mains so they are ready once everyone is shut off.

“We remain hopeful we can start re-lighting by this weekend if everything goes well in purging and then re-energizing the system. However, given we will have to go door-to-door for each home for restoration, some outages may still drift into Monday due to access challenges,” Kelley said.

UPDATE @ 7:38 a.m.:

Vectren will shut off meters to more than 2,000 customers as it works to address a natural gas outage in Linden Heights in Dayton.

The area of Linden and Wayne Avenues were the site for a current gas replacement project that ultimately “spurred the outage” that began Wednesday evening and went into Thursday morning, according to a statement from Vectren Energy Delivery.

Vectren is working to learn exactly what caused the issue that prevented gas from properly flowing to its customers during the project, said Vectren Marketing and Communications Vice President Chase Kelly.

Service to around 300 customers was initially impacted, but it will expand to over 2,000 as Vectren needs to purge gas from the entire system before it can complete the pipeline replacement work, according to the statement.

Vectren hopes to begin the process of restoring customers Friday, but the restoration work may extend into Monday, said Kelly.

Turning on gas meters that are mostly indoors and helping customers re-light gas appliances is a door-to-door process that can take until Monday to complete, said Kelly.

“Vectren provided notice of this activity to impacted customers yesterday evening and will continue to provide updates as the work continues. We will provide accommodations to those affected, and the call center is prepared to handle customer questions or concerns throughout this time,” Kelly said.

Vectren has extra crew to work and begin the process of going to each customers location to re-light their gas appliances.

“We appreciate the patience and understanding of customers and sincerely apologize for this inconvenience,” said Kelly.

The Miami Valley is currently under a freeze warning until 10 a.m., said Storm Center 7 Meteorologist Kirstie Zontini.

The online outage map for Vectren is only for electric services in Indiana and does not reflect any gas outages, said Vectren Regional President Coleen Ryan.

FIRST REPORT:

Several residents in Linden Heights said their gas was shut off by Vectren Thursday morning.

Vectren trucks and crew were seen working on Linden Avenue in Dayton around 6 a.m.

Residents in the area reportedly received a recorded message from Vectren that informed them of an issue.

News Center 7 reached out to Vectren and are waiting to hear back.

The estimated time for service restoration is unknown.

We are working to learn what the issue was that caused Vectren to shut off service to residents in the area.