SCG Completes Major Gate Station Upgrade to Enhance Service and Resiliency for 20,000 Customers
Coram Lane Gate Station in Orange is fourth SCG/CNG gate station to be recently renovated in the companies’ Gate Station Modernization Program
Plans to renovate additional gate stations have been deferred following $35 million in cuts in companies’ most recent rate cases
ORANGE, Conn. — December 12, 2024 — Today, Southern Connecticut Gas (SCG) and Connecticut Natural Gas (CNG), subsidiaries of Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), announced the completion of a $7 million system upgrade at Coram Lane Gate Station, which serves approximately 20,000 residential and commercial customers in Orange, Milford, and surrounding towns with safe and reliable natural gas service. Built in the mid-1960s, Coram Lane was identified as a priority for renovations through the companies’ Gate Station Modernization Program; it is the fourth gate station to be renovated through the program. While the companies had planned to renovate one additional gate station annually through the program, including CNG-North’s East Farmington Gate Station and CNG-Greenwich’s Putnam Lake Gate Station, PURA’s decision to cut the companies’ rates by $35 million in their recently decided rate cases has resulted in deferring these modernization plans.
“Congratulations to the team for this fantastic achievement in enhancing the resiliency of the Coram Lane Gate Station,” said Frank Reynolds, President and CEO of CNG and SCG. “Being a 175-year-old company means that, while we are immensely proud of our long legacy of service, we also must work even harder to replace our aging infrastructure and invest in resilient, modern solutions for our customers. I am pleased to see this critical infrastructure renovated and restored, and I hope that in future rate cases, we will receive the support we need from PURA to continue making these investments in the resiliency of the system.”
Like all gate stations, Coram Lane plays an essential role in the distribution of natural gas. The gate station receives natural gas at high pressures from the Tennessee Gas Pipeline, which transmits the fuel from Texas and Lousiana, across seven states, and up to New England. Infrastructure within the gate station steps down the pressure in several steps before feeding the natural gas into the street, where pressures are further stepped down by district regulators before natural gas is distributed at safe levels to homes and businesses.
The renovation process at Coram Lane began with design and permitting more than two years ago. Members of the SCG Gas Operations & Engineering team identified the gate station as a priority for the modernization program in 2021 due to its age and consequent decline. Because the building contained asbestos, lead paint, mercury-containing lights, and other potentially hazardous materials, and because operational, safety, and modernizing equipment needed to be installed, renovating Coram Lane was an important resiliency effort to ensure continued high-quality service and a safe environment for SCG workers.
“The safety of our workers and our customers is a key value on which we will never compromise,” said Al Langland, Vice President of Gas Engineering and Operations at CNG and SCG. “That’s why we’ve been proactively working to identify gate stations and district regulators in need of investment so we can fix potential issues before they become problems. I am very proud of the team’s leadership to ensure the resiliency and reliability of this key gate station that 20,000 customers rely on, and I encourage PURA to support these projects for the benefit of the customers we serve.”
With the Gate Station Modernization Program, the companies identified a resiliency need to renovate and modernize one gate station and six to eight district regulators per year. In 2025, CNG planned to begin work at Putnam Lake Gate Station in Greenwich and East Farmington Gate Station in Farmington. However, following the conclusion of the companies’ rate cases in November, in which PURA cut rates for CNG and SCG by a combined $35 million, these modernization programs have been deferred until the companies receive support from the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to make these important investments.
Media Contact:
Sarah Wall Fliotsos
(757) 407-4255