Heating Fuel Debate

The heating fuel presently used in our community is propane, which is stored in several underground tanks throughout the community. A company that supplies natural gas is proposing to install pipelines throughout the community. This would give individual homeowners a choice of heating fuel. Natural gas is about 50% cheaper than propane.

Installing the gas pipelines would require digging trenches in the existing roads owned by the Association, and digging trenches in the lawns (limited common elements) leading to the homes of those homeowners who desire natural gas. This has prompted bitter debate among the homeowners and fierce opposition from the existing propane supplier who presently has a monopoly. The natural gas company has agreed to absorb the cost of digging the road trenches, installing the pipelines, patching the road trenches (with a temporary and then a permanent patch) and reseeding the affected lawn areas. There will be no cost the Association, although some residents don’t believe this.

I would be interested in knowing if other communities have encountered a similar situation in the past. Were there objections from some of the homeowners? What were they? How were they addressed? Were there any difficulties with the existing supplier? How were they handled? Did the Association encounter any legal action?

Glen makes two very good points.

If there are utility easements then the gas company may already have all the legal access they need whether the board consents or not. From their standpoint, though, the gas company needs as many subscribers as they can get to cover the costs of new piping.

The issue of appliances is also a consideration although I would think that most propane equipment can be converted to NG without having to buy a whole new appliance. But that is just a guess on my part. In any event, this is an issue for those who choose NG and not really an association problem.

Options are always good. I seem to remember only a decade ago oil companies in the northeast were running radio ads all the time trying to entice people to switch to home heating oil and furnaces because, at the time, the price of oil was lower than natural gas on a per-BTU basis.

The worm has turned, so to speak, but the prices are volatile (pun intended) and can change very quickly. Which is why I say options are nice in the event of massive price swings. Weigh carefully before locking in to any agreement. They probably want some sort of reimbursement clause for their infrastructure investment in case not enough homeowners sign up.

We had a similar issue but with cable. Proper cable installation would require digging up the common area. That cable company would then have monopoly due to them putting out the money. In order for the HOA to agree to this, we would ALL have to vote to allow this company to dig up our yards. That is because when it is referenced as "Common property" it's because ALL the owner's own that property. They (HOA members) must agree to allow such work to be done.

This is a vote for the owners and not just the board. The board just has to sign the contract after the majority owners agree.

Bruce we went through something similar with the install of Verizon FIOS. We had cable service Verizon offered to come in install their service underground through the common property at their cost and make it available as an option to each owner.

They also agreed to pay the association per unit for the install and potential custome.

This was handled by the board not voted on by the owners. Some who wer against this because that's just what they do were unhappy but now some have even switched over after the fact.

We insisted they install around the perimeter ofmthe property rather than their thought of going through the middle of our grounds including lots and sidewalks. In the end much less disruptive and destructive.

We offered each owner another choice, made money and allowed for competition.

My guess the switch would not require the purchase of new appliances between propane and natural gas easily determined with a quick phone call to check.

Good luck and whatever the decision my suggestion have someone monitor the work closely. To protect the property's interests and make sure things are done in the way that suits your needs best.

Typically gas, water, sewer, electric are all great companies and will do a great job at no cost to you.

Cable, internet, cell phone are all scumbags. Dont trust them.

Moving to natural gas will be a huge money saver for your HOA. If you want propane again, simply have them deliver the tanks.

But its not so easy to get pipelines of natural gas again. Don't let this opportunity pass your by. They obviously have budget money to do this today. 5 years from now? Maybe not.

That statement puzzles me. I understand that Connecticut is one of those states whose roots go back to medieval England, so things are not done the same as they are in more modern places.

My experience locally has been that easements are usually granted by the developer. The utility easements I have seen are never specific to one type of utility or one vendor, although it could be done. Once a utility easement is granted it can normally be used by any utility without seeking further permission. I am curious. Do you have a utility easement or is the propane in an easement dedicated specifically to ABC Propane Co? Does the electric, water, telephone, cable, and sewer share the easements or do they each have their own?

Neither have I. A utility easement is not one for anyone to use but it is one that any utility may use. My home in Phoenix has a 3-feet-wide utility easement along the east perimeter and a 10-feet-wide utility easement along the rear property line. All my neighbors have similar easements. I assume the latter easement was for an alley that was never built; all the utilities were buried underground and delivery is from the street rather than the alley.

Our specified easements are for "utility services" with no names named so a new utility service could use them.

Our issue may have become a little more fuzzy. A few years before I moved in, our HOA had 1 water meter. If you did not pay your dues, the board could shut off your water. That changed after the owners voted to install separate water meters for each home. In order for that to happen, we had to give up our "Private" roads and annex into the city. Which meant our roads are now PUBLIC and we are no longer in the County. One of my biggest jobs I had was integrating this change into our documentation to remove the "1 Meter rules all" statement. (Among other non-related issues).

So with that said, our HOA the land around the homes is owned by the HOA as "Common area". Owners owned the house and the lot it sat on. They had "exclusive use" of the property around their home. Which is about the size of a postage stamp. Any time cable or utilities had to come in to fix things we had to let them. The roads were now PUBLIC with their easements. However, if a water pipe broke. It was the owner's responsibility from the meter to the house. We did not have to approve such work nor did we pay for it. We just had to make sure the property was returned back to the original condition. (Unless the condition caused the issue).

So the HOA board may approve the pipes to be laid. It really becomes how do you handle the cleanup? Will the HOA need to pay for the replacing of sod/grass? Will they be responsible for certain damages? If the HOA approves the work, how does the HOA deal with the results? That is the better question.