The information provided to the Department of Public Utilities confirms what Gov. Charlie Baker has been concerned about with regard to residential and commercial customers being unable to complete new gas hookups. New customers connected to existing gas mains were down 50 percent from a year ago when 1,427 new customers were hooked up to gas between July and September 2017. “This is creating legitimate issues for developers, for businesses and for homeowners around the commonwealth,” Baker told reporters on Oct. 1.
Commonwealth Magazine reported that National Grid inspected 9,102 gas leaks, roughly on par with what it had done the previous three years during the same three-month periods. However, far fewer leaks were repaired. National Grid has spent about the same amount money as in previous years on labor, materials, and other expenses but fixed fewer gas leaks and hooked up 50 percent fewer new gas customers, according to data provided to the state. Top of Form
Bottom of Form
The volume of work done by replacement gas contractors for National Grid is down considerably during the lockout period compared to the three previous years, according to the information, while costs for the utility have climbed 2 percent.
The 16,406 feet of installed gas main was short of the 72,074 feet installed last year, and National Grid performed 354 fewer pipe construction jobs than last year. The number of crews working were also way down, from 432 one-person customer metering crews in 2017 to 199 this year, and from 271 three-person construction and maintenance crews last year to 116 in late summer this year. Despite this, National Grid spent over $241 million on labor, materials, and in a category labeled “other,” all up by a total of $4.3 million from last year during this time frame.
“It’s kind of staggering when you see what the costs are, and the amount of work is down,” said John Buonopane, president of United Steel Workers Local 12012, one of the two locked out unions. “There are a lot of different costs associated with this lockout that they wouldn’t be spending any money on, if we were working,” Buonopane said. “All these costs in my opinion, are going to get passed on to the ratepayers.” He suggested one reason might be the amount of money National Grid has had to spend on hotel rooms, meals, extra police details and crews more than double the size of what would be necessary with union workers to complete a job.
National Grid has defended the safety of relying on trained contractors to continue performing gas work during the lockout, but the union has argued that having workers not accustomed to working daily on the system introduces an element of risk.
While contract negotiations have continued, Buonopane said the unions representing gas workers have offered to continue working under the terms of the old collective bargaining agreement. National Grid said that unsuccessful attempts in the past, including in 2016, to reach a compromise over health insurance and 401(k) plans for new hires made the lockout a necessary step for the company. The two sides will meet and sit down next on Oct. 29.
