AKRON, Ohio — Dominion Energy Ohio is beginning to restore service to customers in downtown Akron who were impacted by a natural gas outage over the weekend due to a water main break.
"Dominion Energy Ohio is beginning to restore service to customers in downtown Akron who were impacted by an outage over the weekend. Technicians from Akron, Cleveland, Ashtabula, Canton and Youngstown remain on the scene to complete repairs and restore natural gas service to customers. Contractors also remain on site to assist Dominion Energy with repair and restoration efforts," the company said in a release issued on Monday afternoon.
Roughly 25 customers had their service restored on Sunday evening. Dominion Energy Ohio says more customers will be back in service on Monday, but It’s likely restoration will continue into Tuesday and Wednesday. "Continued frigid temperatures and falling snow are causing repairs to take longer than expected," Dominion Energy Ohio added.
Over the weekend, Dominion said crews were working through the "tedious process" of removing hundreds of gallons of water.
As of 1:30 p.m. on Monday, customers on the following streets and blocks are affected:
- W. Exchange Street from Bell Street to Water Street
- W. Cedar Street from Bell Street W. Bowery Street
- W. Bowery Street from W. State Street to W. Exchange Street
- Locust Street from W. Cedar Street to W. Exchange Street
- Pine Street to W. Cedar Street
- A portion of W. Chestnut Street from Pine Street
- Wabash Avenue, Bishop Street and Bonnie Brae Avenue between W. Exchange Street and W. Cedar Street
Impacted customers will continue to be offered overnight accommodations while their service is being restored. Customers who need shelter for the night are urged to call Dominion Energy at, 1-877-542-2630.
Customers are urged to take advantage of the warming centers the City of Akron activated due to the extreme cold. Customers can check the City of Akron website for warming center locations and times of operation for the week of January 24.
In the meantime, Dominion is offering these tips to residents in order to prevent their pipes from being damaged:
- Let water from your faucet drip. A trickle of water might be all it takes to keep your pipes from freezing.
- Open cabinet doors. This allows any heat to travel to un-insulated pipes under sinks and appliances near exterior walls.
- Or, shut off the water and drain the water system. Be aware that if you have a fire protection sprinkler system, it may be de-activated when you shut off the water.
The source of the water in the gas lines is unknown at this time.
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