Natural Gas Moratorium

In January 2019, HG&E was forced to impose a natural gas moratorium on all requests for new or increased natural gas service. Regionally, demand for natural gas is outpacing supply, which has led to several local utilities imposing moratoriums.

What does the moratorium mean to you?

Customers can

  • Replace existing active equipment (equal or less connected load)
  • Remove gas equipment
  • Activate a gas service that has been utilized in the last 12 months (only for equipment that was actively consuming gas)

Customers cannot

  • Add new equipment that will increase the customer load
  • Activate a gas service that has been previously abandoned
  • Activate an old gas service that has not been in use in the previous 12 months
    • For example, if a customer purchases a new property that has an existing gas service, but the gas has not been “turned on” since January 2019, they cannot activate that service.

HG&E is actively monitoring usage through the Automatic Meter Reading system.

Natural Gas Alternatives

If you are interested in replacing an existing heating system (oil, propane, electric resistance, or natural gas), there are a variety of options available to HG&E customers. 

HG&E continues to evaluate options that would alleviate the local natural gas capacity issue, but there is no timeline in place, currently. In the meantime, if you are interested in natural gas service in the future, please complete the Natural Gas Service Interest Form. HG&E will review new service interest and requests as soon as the capacity issue is adequately addressed.

See moratorium frequently asked questions for more information.

Contact Info

99 Suffolk Street
Holyoke, MA 01040
Tel: (413) 536-9300
Toll-free: (877) 742-5443
Email