On Dec. 19, 2024, natural gas supplier National Grid agreed to accept a fine in the amount of $1 million based on its response to a September 2024 natural gas explosion in Oneida, New York. The staff of the New York Public Service Department was highly critical of National Grid’s failure to have electricity shut off to the affected building before the explosion. While this incident involved natural gas, the issues presented may nonetheless be of interest to propane distributors.
Family Home
In 1985, George Stratton purchased a home on West Elm Street in Oneida, New York. He remodeled it over the years while he and his wife raised their two children there. The kids grew up and moved out, and Stratton’s wife passed away in 2021. After that, Stratton continued to live in the house alone. Both natural gas and electricity were supplied to the house by National Grid, a utility that was regulated by the New York Public Service Commission.
Around 3 a.m. on Sept. 9, 2024, Stratton was sitting in bed watching television when he saw a flash of headlights cross his front yard. This was immediately followed by a loud bang. The house shook, and within seconds, Stratton could smell gas inside the house.
Drunken Teenager
Wearing only his pajama pants, Stratton jumped out of bed and ran across the living room to the kitchen to grab his cellphone. He rushed outside to find that a Toyota Rav4, driven by a drunken teenager, had crashed into his house. He called 911.
Firefighters responded to the scene. They found that not only had the Toyota crashed into the house, but it had hit the gas meter and severed its shut-off valve. High pressure gas was being released from the broken line. Firefighters evacuated the neighborhood, and at 3:14 a.m., they called for National Grid to respond to the scene.
Multiple Criminal Offenses
The circumstances surrounding the teenager and the Toyota are murky. Reportedly, he was taken to a hospital earlier that evening in a drunken state. For reasons that are unclear, he was later released (apparently still drunk), and then stole the Toyota. What is clear is that the teenager (17 years old) was arrested and charged with 30 criminal offenses relating to the theft of the Toyota, the drunken joyride and the crash into Stratton’s house.
A National Grid technician arrived at the scene at 4:04 a.m. as large volumes of gas continued to blow out of the severed line. He determined that he could not get the gas feeding the leak shut off, and at 4:25, he called his dispatcher to request that a gas crew be sent to the scene to assist him. He did not request an electrical crew or take other action to cut electrical power to the home. He later told investigators that he assumed an electrical crew was already on scene.
Massive Explosion
Firefighters had told Stratton (still wearing only his pajama bottoms) and his neighbors to stand down the street. That is where he was standing at 5:55 a.m. when a massive explosion destroyed his house. Fortunately, no one was injured, but multiple neighboring homes were damaged. At 5:58, the National Grid technician called his dispatcher to report the explosion. At this point, he also called for an electrical crew to respond to the scene to shut off electrical power to the now destroyed residence.
The National Grid gas crew arrived on scene at 6:31 a.m. It determined that the only way to shut off the blowing gas was to use a special tool to squeeze the gas line shut upstream of the leak. This was accomplished at 7:10 a.m., over an hour after the explosion.
Investigation
Meanwhile, at 6:07 a.m., an electric crew left a National Grid facility in Herkimer, New York, and was on scene by 6:49. The electrical power was shut off at 7:06 a.m.
The staff of the Office of Investigation and Enforcement of the New York Department of Public Service conducted an investigation. It reviewed National Grid’s policies and procedures regarding gas emergency response, including both its First Responder Policy and its Fire Calls Response and Investigation Policy. These policies called for the removal of potential sources of ignition for accumulated gas and specifically directed first responders to “disconnect the electric and/or gas service” if the first responders determine that “the condition is severe.”
Multiple Violations
When interviewed during the investigation, National Grid’s first responder testified that he could have cut the power “if it was safe to pull the meter,” or alternatively, power could have been cut at the weatherhead or at a utility pole near the residence. He said he concluded that it was not safe to do so before the explosion because this would create “an ignition source” and “could cause an arc,” resulting in an explosion.
Upon conclusion of its investigation, the staff alleged that National Grid committed multiple violations of New York codes and regulations. It specifically found that failure to take any action to shut off electrical power to the residence violated New York law. It also took issue with the company’s failure to call for an electrical line crew “to shut off electrical power to a residence that was filling with combustible natural gas.” The staff also alleged that National Grid’s policies and procedures “do not contain sufficiently detailed procedures and protocols for disconnecting electrical service during a natural gas emergency.”
Settlement & Approval
National Grid had the right to contest the staff’s allegations before the New York Public Service Commission. Instead, it reached a settlement under which it agreed to pay $1 million into an interest bearing regulatory deferred liability account, with the funds being used “for enhancing National Grid safety procedures involving the discontinuation of electric services during a natural gas emergency and to increase safety training for CMS Representatives, and other First Responders, on when to call for an electrical operations crew during a natural gas emergency.” The agreement specifically stated that the settlement funds “will be paid by National Grid shareholders, not National Grid ratepayers or customers.”
The Public Service Commission reviewed the settlement and approved it, holding that it was in the public interest. While this ruling resolves the administrative claims against National Grid, it does little to resolve the practical issues presented to a gas supplier on the scene of a gas leak emergency. It appears that, at least in some circumstances, action to cut the electric power to a building could create a spark inside the building, although this may be less likely if the electric utility cuts the power outside at a utility pole. At a minimum, the National Grid settlement underscores the need for gas suppliers to give careful attention to the supply of electrical power to a building that is the subject of a gas emergency, and specifically to whether the electric utility serving the building should be called to shut off the power.
