Chester - loss of gas

    29 June 2024

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    Kevin Hegarty

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    Telephone0797 069 4897

    Nick Jerman, Head of Customer Operations (North West) for Cadent, said:

    “Our team worked incredibly hard, from early morning to late in the evening, to restore gas to the area.

    “We now have only a small number of properties to restore gas to – the gas is there, it’s just that no-one has been home when we have made visits to turn it back on.

    “We will try several more times, and then leave details on how to contact us to arrange for an engineer to visit. What’s been incredible to witness throughout this last week is the response from the local community.

    “Kind, courteous and understanding to the team – despite the challenging circumstances everyone found themselves in. We can’t thank everyone enough.”

    For background

    At around 8.50pm on Friday 21st June, Cadent was alerted to a fire on a gas main, in the Dee Banks / Huntington area of Chester.

    This was the result of damage caused to the gas main. The exact circumstances of what happened remains under investigation.

    Cadent engineers were on site quickly and worked initially to bring the fire under control.

    This was achieved late on Friday, by stopping the flow of gas through the pipeline.

    An unavoidable consequence of this was a large number of properties losing their gas supply.

    A major operation took place over seven days to very carefully and safely reintroduce gas to 18km of gas pipes impacted by this.

    This had to be done in a phased way, with the area sub-divided into 11 zones, which contained around 2500 properties in total (although not all were gas users).

    Late on Thursday night, gas had been restored to zones 9 to 11, the final three zones to have supply restored.

    The only properties that currently do not have gas restored are those where engineers have not been able to access – ie. no-one was in when Cadent has called.

    These properties continue to be revisited – a decision will be made later to revert to ‘business as usual’, with these property owners encouraged to make contact with Cadent when they return home.

    Every day, around 100 engineers and support teams have been based in this area of Chester, to work on the gas restoration and support customers impacted.

    A customer centre was set up at St Luke’s Church and the engineers’ command hub was at Chester Rugby Club.

    Food vans were parked outside the church, to provide impacted customers with hot meals for both lunch and dinner.

    The British Red Cross supported Cadent engineers in visiting customers on the Priority Services Register, to make sure they were looked after and catered for. Cheshire West and Chester Council co-ordinated multi-agency calls, to ensure the resources of various agencies where available where needed.

    Updates were posted on a dedicated incident webpage and posted into local community Facebook groups.

    Important message on ‘if you smell gas’

    With gas now fully back into the network, it’s important to stress that if you ever smell gas, call the gas emergency service on 0800 111 999*. This is a 24/7, 365-day service. All calls are recorded and may be monitored.

    *All calls are recorded and maybe monitored

    Cadent

    Cadent is the UK’s largest gas distribution network with a 200-year legacy. We are in a unique position to build on strong foundations whilst encouraging the curiosity to think differently and the courage to embrace change. Day to day we continue to operate, maintain and innovate the UK’s largest gas network, transporting gas safely and protecting people in an emergency. Our skilled engineers and specialists remain committed to the communities we serve, working day and night to ensure gas reaches 11 million homes from Cumbria to North London and the Welsh Borders to East Anglia, to keep your energy flowing.

    Future of Gas:

    Here at Cadent we support the Government’s plans to reach Net Zero by 2050. That means we’re backing the introduction of hydrogen as a low carbon alternative to natural gas for the future. We know people love the controllability of gas and, with our network already in place, it makes sense to switch to the lower carbon alternative offered by hydrogen, which we believe can keep homes and businesses warm for generations to come.

    Cadent manages the national gas emergency service free phone line on behalf of the gas industry - 0800 111 999*

    Cadent Gas Ltd is owned by a consortium of global investors.

    *All calls are recorded and may be monitored.

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