Prince homeowners could save 3/4 of their heating bill if project goes ahead

The long wait for access to natural gas may be over soon for residents of Prince Township homeowners.

Union Gas held an information session at the Prince Township Community Centre last night in advance of an Ontario Energy Board (OEB) decision on the company’s proposed expansion to the 1,010 residents of the township.

About 80 residents came out for last night's session.

“The project is not a project until we get OEB approval,” said Chris Minor, district manager for Union Gas.

If approved, the proposed $2.7 million project may begin construction as early as August of this year.

In its filing to the OEB, Union Gas forecasts that 291 homes and commercial businesses in Prince Township will be hooked up for natural gas service by the tenth year of the project.

Union Gas estimates the annual heating and water heating bill with their service to be about $1,090, which they contrast with their estimate of heating the same sized house with electric baseboard heating at $4,089 per year.

For a 22-year period, each Union Gas customer in Prince Township will contribute about $500 yearly as a System Expansion Surcharge toward the project, which Minor said will come out of their savings from switching to natural gas.

A customer who signs up on day one and continues with the service will end up contributing a total of $11,000 toward the project over the span of that 22 years.

Ken Lamming, mayor of Prince Township, said he has been working on making natural gas available to residents for about five years.

“Oil is expensive, electricity is expensive, propane is expensive — at least this gives you a chance to have a cheaper fuel. It’s better for the seniors or people with low income, and it’s handy,” said Lamming.

No residents are locked into a commitment, said Lamming, and residents can choose to wait five or 10 years before signing up to avoid paying some of the System Expansion Surcharge.

Additionally, the township has agreed to fully reimburse all municipal taxes which will be owed by the utility over a 10 year period.

“If we don’t get it, we’re not paying the taxes anyway, so we’re not losing anything. It helps the people of Prince. As a council we look at ways to help people and this was the best way,” said Lamming.

Longtime resident Sam Iacones said he has waited about 30 years for the chance to hook his house up to natural gas.

"This time it looks serious, like it actually might happen," said Iacones.

The company and township will find out in the fall if the project is eligible for grant money from the provincial government, intended for natural gas expansion projects into rural and remote communities.

“Union Gas and Prince Township are going to work together to secure federal funding, but we don’t know if we are going to be successful yet,” said Minor.

In total, about 22 kilometres of natural gas pipe will be laid along Second Line West, Base Line Road, Airport Road, Gagnon Road, Walls Road, Deans Road, Mountainview Drive, Heywood Road, Douglas Drive, Ironside Drive, Pinder Drive and Harper Street.