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Preventing the Next Natural Gas Outage

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By fizkes @ Shutterstock.com

I’ve been writing to you lately about the gas outage in Newport, Rhode Island that my family and 7,000 others suffered during the cold snap last week. Needless to say, losing heat and hot water in the winter is an uncomfortable experience at best. Thanks to the support of a solid network of friends and family, my family was able to endure the outage, but many residents had it rough.

In Minnesota, residents are in the grip of the Polar Vortex, and extreme low temperatures are causing them to draw on their natural gas supplies at a rapid pace. Xcel Energy, the area’s utility company, is sounding the alarm, asking residents to reduce their consumption of natural gas to keep enough in the system for everyone to maintain some level of heat. CBS Minnesota reports:

Xcel Energy is advising residents in parts of central Minnesota north of the metro to turn down their thermostats and reduce their natural gas use.

According to the energy provider, the extreme weather conditions have resulted in a “significant” strain on Xcel Energy’s natural gas system.

“We need those in Becker, Big Lake, Chisago City, Lindstrom, Princeton, and Isanti to reduce use of natural gas. Until further notice, you are urged to turn down your thermostat to 60 degrees or lower and avoid the use of natural gas appliances including hot water,” Xcel Energy said.

WCCO’s Reg Chapman said shortly before noon Wednesday that Xcel Energy is asking customers to lower thermostat to 55 degrees.

Xcel Energy says residents’ cooperation is critical to prevent widespread natural gas outages. The company also suggests using electric space heaters.

An interruption in the natural gas system occurred on Tuesday around 10:30 p.m. in Princeton. Xcel says about 150 customers are without gas service in Princeton. Xcel Energy says they anticipate gas to be back on Thursday.

Impacted customers have been provided hotel rooms while Xcel Energy works to restore service. The utility is also providing affected customers with space heaters.

Sounds just like what happened in Newport. Read more here.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.
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