Strong 2021 keeps critical upgrade of Chicago’s natural gas delivery system on budget, with work on schedule
budget, with work on schedule
delivery system made strong progress in the fourth quarter of 2021 and ended the year
on budget and on schedule.
Under the Safety Modernization Program, Peoples Gas is replacing corroding iron pipes
— that date back as far as the 1800s — with modern pipeline. The Program is on
budget, as it has been since 2015 when the current owners of Peoples Gas started
managing the company. The progress of work also is exactly on schedule. Ten years
into a 30-year program, work is one-third complete — despite the many challenges of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Data from the fourth quarter and 2021 as a whole has been reported to the Illinois
Commerce Commission as part of the commission’s extensive oversight of the Safety
Modernization Program.
Key 2021 metrics include:
102 miles of new gas main installed.
More than 76 miles of outdated gas main retired — the distance between
Chicago and Racine, Wisconsin.
Cost per mile installed across 16 city neighborhoods is on budget.
More than 17,700 gas meters moved from inside homes to outside.
Avalon Park and McKinley Park — Crews completed meter transfers and main
retirements in the fourth quarter on two major neighborhood upgrades that began
in 2020. The Avalon Park project involved the installation of more than 8 miles of
main, retirement of 5 miles of main, and transfer of nearly 900 gas meters. The
McKinley Park project included more than 12 miles of main installation, more
than 8 miles of retirement, and the transfer of nearly 2,500 gas meters.
Gold Coast — Crews coordinated with local aldermen and the Chicago
Department of Transportation to install new gas main on the iconic and densely
crowded Magnificent Mile without negatively impacting local businesses.
An independent engineering study ordered by the State of Illinois found more than 80%
of the iron natural gas pipes beneath Chicago’s streets have an average remaining life
of less than 15 years. Many of the pipes are from the 1800s.
The Safety Modernization Program is a mandatory safety initiative. It also is crucial for
the reliable delivery of energy to keep Chicagoans warm, and to replace pipes that harm
the environment by leaking methane. From 2017 to 2020, work to replace leaky pipes
reduced methane emissions in Chicago by a total of 888 metric tons. That is the
equivalent of taking more than 4,800 gasoline-consuming cars off the road. Methanereduction
data for 2021 will be announced later this year.
Peoples Gas plans to modernize the natural gas delivery system in every Chicago
neighborhood.
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