What to Know
- Columbia Gas missed its second restoration deadline of Dec. 16.
- The company says as of Friday, its crews had finished 98 percent of the work.
- Many of the residents and businesses have been without gas since September.
On Nov. 19, Columbia Gas missed its first self-imposed deadline to restore gas service to about 8,000 customers. Then, on Sunday, the company missed its second self-imposed deadline.
The utility, which confirmed that more than 100 customers are still offline, said its crews have restored gas services to 98 percent of affected customers, noting that the remaining two percent are either those who are choosing to finish the work on their own or those with significant damage to their homes.
"I am so disappointed. I could choose other words to say, but the best thing to say: I'm disappointed," Lawrence resident Sisa Alcantara said.
He says Columbia Gas dropped off a new stove just hours before NBC10 Boston spoke with him.
He's now back online, but he knows other people aren't so lucky.
"I was speaking to a lot of the residents around. They say they don't have stove connected. They don't have a lot of their basic utility needs for the gas to run completely."
U.S. & World
Columbia Gas says 110 homes and a dozen businesses across the Merrimack Valley still don't have gas service.
Businesses and homes with severe damage also still don't have gas service.
"They are just pretty much telling one story but yet not giving us the delivery on a lot of things," Alcantara said.
A Columbia Gas spokesman couldn't give a firm date for when all impacted customers will have gas service. That's because those customers are doing the work on their own.
In order to be relit, a house must be "house ready," or have new or repaired appliances. In October, Columbia Gas started replacing all damaged, gas-fueled appliances.
The utility finished dismantling six temporary trailer sites in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover on Friday.
In October, 360 trailers were delivered to the three communities.
The company says it will make sure that customers who are still without gas services have a place to stay until they are back online.
