After a significant increase in winter storm-related damage to natural gas infrastructure during the winter of 2022–23, Southwest Gas launched a proactive and expanded education campaign in 2023 highlighting the importance of protecting gas meters with snow shelters.
The ice-related damage was particularly bad for its Northern Nevada and Northern California service areas. The Lake Tahoe area, for example, experienced the second-highest total snowfall in the past 70 years—more than 56 feet by mid-March. The abnormally large snow accumulation led to 109 snow-related damages between October and May—up from only three damages during the previous winter.
Most of the damage to residential and commercial natural gas meters stemmed from having either no snow shelter in place or an inadequate one that did not properly protect the equipment.
“Properly designed and installed snow shelters lessen the chance of damage to natural gas infrastructure, reducing the hazard and the potential for customers being without natural gas to heat their homes and businesses,” Laura Nelson, vice president, sustainability and external affairs, told American Gas. “If a customer is without heat due to damaged natural gas meters, water pipes can freeze and create water damage inside homes and businesses, further exacerbating the situation.”
To counter this, Southwest Gas is employing a variety of customer education methods, including organic media outreach and paid media ahead of bad weather, additional social media messaging in areas that typically receive heavy snowfall, and more conventional methods like in-bill messaging, robocalls and emails. During severe winter weather, the targeted weather safety messaging also receives prominent placement on the homepage of the utility’s website.
In some areas, natural gas service was established before local jurisdictions required meter protection. The utility works with its regulators to survey the heavy snowfall areas of its California service territory to determine customers with grandfathered service and to install meter protection for these customers with no upfront cost. —Eric Johnson