The Village of East Hills is home to a first-of-a-kind National Grid initiative.
On Thursday, Sept. 3, village officials held a news conference to introduce the “extensive” plan, a program that will allow all additional gas lines will run to East Hills so that everyone in the village who chooses, will be able to have gas to their homes. In attendance was State Senator Jack M. Martins (R—Mineola), Mayor Michael Koblenz, Deputy Mayor Manny Zuckerman, Trustee Stacey Siegel and Ken Daly, president of National Grid NY.
Village officials claim that the multi-million dollar program will save new gas customers in East Hills the cost of paying hundreds, and maybe thousands of dollars per home, to run gas lines that were more than 100 feet from their residence. There will no longer be a charge for extending the gas lines, village officials added, although there are conditions which new gas customers must agree to, as they have been required to adhere to in the past.
Those in attendance hailed the initiative for its potential cost-cutting measures, plus its environmental features.
“National Grid and the Village of East Hills, together with the help of concerned residents, have paved the way for thousands to receive gas service,” said Martins. “They’ve created a model of how government and the private sector can work together for the betterment of the residents they both serve.”
“Through the new program, approximately 1,000 homeowners in East Hills will be able to convert to gas, with our remaining residents already enjoying this availability,” Koblenz added. “East Hills has 2,287 homes and over 7,000 residents. I am delighted that East Hills was chosen as the first community to lead the way for this important program. This great step forward was due to the leadership of Senator Martins who is always a pleasure to work with in every regard, and National Grid’s ingenuity. There are so many people who have been intricately involved in this project. Specifically, I thank Jana Goldenberg for being part of the process from the outset, and for being so instrumental in the project.”
“National Grid is delighted to deliver our first ever neighborhood gas expansion program on Long Island and appreciates the support of the Public Service Commission, Senator Martins, and the Village of East Hills for their excellent collaboration,” said Daly. “This is an innovative clean energy program, whereby our installation of 60,000 feet of new, modern gas mains will provide over 1,000 customers access to clean natural gas and allow them to cut their heating bills in half resulting in over $1 million in savings. Our Long Island communities will benefit from cleaner air as this program has the equivalent impact to the environment of taking 15,000 cars off the road for a year.”
The project is in the planning phase and is expected to start in the winter.
