Restoring Natural Gas Outages
Natural gas outages are uncommon, but when they do occur, our restoration process helps ensure service is restored to the greatest number of customers as quickly as possible.
Piedmont Outage Restoration
What causes a natural gas outage?
There are two types of outages – planned and unplanned.
- Planned outages cover necessary system maintenance or upgrades. You will receive advanced notification of these outages as long as you keep your Piedmont account and contact information up to date.
- Unplanned outages are most commonly caused by homeowners or businesses digging on their property without calling 811 first.
When an outage occurs
- Piedmont will safely secure the area and attempt to notify impacted customers.
Repairing damaged lines
- Technicians must go door-to-door to physically shut off the natural gas meters before repairs can begin.
- Repair crews will require unobstructed access to the outdoor meter (free from debris, vegetation or pets).
- After repairs are made and before service can be turned back on, technicians will perform various safety checks to help ensure safe operation.
Restoring service
- Technicians must re-access the affected natural gas meters to turn them back on.
- Emphasis is placed on vital public health and safety facilities such as hospitals, law enforcement, fire departments, water treatment facilities and pumping stations. Efforts to restore natural gas to these facilities are clearly essential to protect the health and safety of the public.
- Technicians will also need to enter your home or business to test and relight natural gas equipment and appliances.
Additional Information
For safety tips regarding other types of outages affecting customers' natural gas service, visit our Severe Weather Safety page.