Gas man cometh, so let him in the house

The inspector who just drops by to check the meter on your old house is there for legitimate safety reasons, CenterPoint Energy says.

By MARY JANE SMETANKA, Star Tribune

Last update: October 20, 2009 - 5:14 PM

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Unable to gain access to some homes to inspect aging gas meters located inside, contractors working for CenterPoint Energy are making cold calls in Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs to do safety checks of meters as required by federal law.

The visits have spurred suspicion among some homeowners who were surprised by the drop-in inspectors. Recently, some Minneapolis residents asked on a city issues e-mail list if the inspections were legitimate or some kind of scam to gain entry into houses.

The door-knockers are wearing lime-green safety vests and CenterPoint picture IDs, said Craig Reichert, manager of technical field operations for CenterPoint in Minnesota. He's trying to get out the word that people whose meters are inside their homes and haven't been checked yet should expect a visit from the inspectors.

"It's a scheduling nightmare, to say the least," Reichert said. "What we've found in the last six weeks is that when we mail out a postcard or a letter, it usually goes right in the trash."

On the other hand, "It's been really effective doing the cold-calling."

The meter-checking is required for houses that have gas meters inside the dwelling which are read remotely by computers. Most of those houses were built before the 1970s.

Meter readers who once would have spotted problems -- like residents who hang clotheslines from gas pipelines or who box in meters during remodeling -- no longer get to see what's going on.

"Meter readers were our eyes," Reichert said. Now the company has to go to extra lengths "to meet code in federal regulations specific to atmospheric corrosion and a leak survey."

Gas meters in about 21,000 of the 150,000 houses targeted for inspection between 2007 and the end of this year still need to be inspected, Reichert said. If CenterPoint can't get access to a property to do an inspection, it will send out letters to begin a process that could lead to a court order to gain access to a home.

In 2007, CenterPoint made 637,000 phone calls to try to schedule inspections. About 100,000 people answered the phone, and 60,000 visits were scheduled. Only half were completed because people weren't home when inspectors arrived. The letters and phone calls that followed also have largely been ignored.

In the metro area, meters that have to be checked are concentrated in Minneapolis, Bloomington, Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Edina, Fridley, Hopkins, Maple Grove, Plymouth, Richfield, Savage, Shakopee, St. Louis Park and Wayzata.

Contracted inspectors from United Locating Services (ULS) and RMR Services are knocking on doors Monday through Saturday. Inspections are free and done in about 15 minutes. Some leaks have been found, Reichert said, and some meters have needed replacement.

Reichert said CenterPoint is trying to make contact with neighborhood associations to get the word out to the community about the necessity of the inspections.

"It is a federal regulation, and we want to provide a safe product for people," he said. "I think this will help."

Mary Jane Smetanka • 612-673-7380

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