Gas Systems Crew Leader I Tony Richards plows a gas line in the ground. Also pictured is Gas Systems Crew Leader I Roger Waterfield.
Residential Gas Systems Technicians and Gas Service Specialists have a versatile skill set. It allows them to safely identify and repair natural gas leaks one day and coordinate line installation that expands services to meet coverage area demands the next.
Their work begins with residential line extensions to the meter.
They are the Gas Department’s first responders to damaged/cut lines and inside/outside leak investigations.
With 22,608 natural gas residential customers spanning 758 miles of main and 541 miles of service pipelines, their day-to-day work is always changing.
From the Main to the Home
Tony Richards, Gas Systems Crew Leader I, walks out of Gas Systems Supervisor Parham Stanley’s office at 7:30 a.m. with a clear plan of what the day entails.
The Gas Systems Technician Crews are going out to a new subdivision development off of Highway 43 across from Ironwood.
Carolina Croft, a residential development, has been three years in the making, and now the time has come to lay down ¾-inch gas service lines coming off a 2-inch main.
The Carolina Croft project’s first phase will connect 60 homes initially, but a total of 228 once the full development is complete.
Tony rallies the crewmembers to pull the equipment they will need for the day and lays out the plan for everyone as the sun rises over the Operations Center. The crew wraps up the planning with their daily Job Safety Briefing before heading to the job site.
The subdivision site is partially asphalted, but they are headed to the back of the development where there is nothing but fresh fill dirt. Not even the flags marking where the line is supposed to run are there anymore.
“Sometimes this happens at sites, and we have to wait to have it corrected,” Tony said as he waited to talk with the contractor about replacing the indicator flags.
Once the contractor and Tony talk for a moment, the work to replace the flags begins.
The line will go into a deep decline where the wastewater pump station is located along the tree line.
After the flags are replaced, the gas crews wait for the GUC Electric Department to finish their work in the area, as well.
“It’s important that we don’t try to work right on top of each other,” Tony said. “We’re going to wait for this crew to finish what they have to do, and then we will do what we have to do.”
When it’s time, Gas Systems Technician Logan Smith monitors the polyethylene gas pipeline as it unspools approximately 400 feet of pipe, and Tony plows it about 2 feet under the ground.
Gas System Crew Leader I Roger Waterfield, Gas System Technician II Shaun Pridgen, and Gas Systems Technician III Brandon Stevens, along with Logan, finish the installation.
These crews work well together in a seamless rhythm, understanding what comes next and working in the safest, most efficient way possible. They also have a deep sense of camaraderie with one another, talking about their weekend, family, and vacation plans as they finish the job one part at a time.
“These crews are versatile,” said Gas Distribution Engineer Dillon Wade., “They could be assisting our construction crews one day, repairing leaks, chasing cut lines, and then installing residential services another day.”
For the most part, the Gas Systems crews who are supervised by Parham focus on residential services and are on a rotation for responding to leak calls and cut gas lines.
“They all work well together,” Parham said. “They all will reach out to help each other whenever it’s needed. That’s the biggest factor, especially in high-demand times.”
New residential installations across the Greenville Utilities’ Gas System have seen a steady, consistent growth of .5% to 1% each year, according to Dillon.
Customer Care and Service
For those customers who already have natural gas service at their homes, it’s the Gas Service Specialists who handle meter changeouts, customer leak calls, and cut-ons/cut-offs for services.
“You don’t ever know what you are going to see,” said Gas Service Specialist I Jacob Roberti.
“Some people are going through a lot, so I do the best I can for them.”
He pulls up to a residence off of the Town Common Greenway where he will be cutting on their gas service after a line repair interruption.
Jacob first speaks with the customer on the front lawn. He explained that he is there to perform a meter cut-on services and asked what types of gas appliances are in the household.
After he turns the meter on, he goes inside to turn the customer’s heat back on. Once he ensured the service was running well, it was time to head out.
“First, I’m going to ask them what they would like their thermostat set on,” Jacob said as he heads back inside. “We turned it up to check the gas service, but I don’t want to leave until they are at a comfortable setting in their house.”
Some gas customers have stoves, fireplaces, gas packs, and water heaters that are run with natural gas.
“If that is the case, we relight all their pilot lights for them and make sure everything is ready for the customer to use before we leave,” he said.
It is that level of detail and customer consideration that GUC Gas Service Specialists focus on.
“Sometimes customers will be anxious about a suspected gas leak in their home,” Jacob said. “But I assure them that we will take care of it safely, so they can relax.”
Gas Service Specialists also inspect and maintain the residential customer meters. They perform routine maintenance such as repainting the gas meters to prevent atmospheric corrosion, repair meter set leaks, and replace aged equipment such as old-style meter bar combos, and regulators.
At one home, Jacob sets up a vice on the back of his GUC truck, removes the old meter, and begins building a new one with the parts on his truck.
“When the regulators went bad on the old-style meters, we’d have to replace the whole thing, but with this new style, we just replace the bad part. It’s more efficient for us and makes the repair quicker on the customer side too,” Jacob said as he finished building the new meter set.
“All the guys in service are extremely knowledgeable on the tasks that we do,” Parham said. “It’s a great group of guys who do a great job at providing excellent customer service.”
