Norwich — With the casinos ramping up and local hotels seeing more activity, the Atlantic City Linen Supply LLC also has reopened after being shut down for over a year during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the help of a new natural gas “rate relief and payment plan” agreement with Norwich Public Utilities approved late Tuesday.

The plant in the Stanley Israelite Norwich Business Park, one of NPU’s largest utility customers, provides commercial linen services to the region’s two casinos and to the local hospitality industry.

The Norwich Board of Public Utilities Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday following a lengthy executive session to “authorize General Manager Chris LaRose to complete an agreement with (ACLS)” as the company plans to reopen.

Under the agreement, which is expected to be finalized within the next week, ACLS will pay a lower fixed natural gas rate with a higher commodity cost, as the company reopens and begins to ramp up operations. As the volume the plant consumes increases in the coming months, the fixed rate will increase and the volumetric rate will decrease, NPU officials said.

The agreement also allows for ACLS to enter into a payment plan to address its past-due natural gas balance, just as many residential and commercial customers have over the past 12 months through NPU’s Special Payment Arrangement, or SPA, program, NPU officials said.

“This agreement is great news for NPU and for ACLS,” LaRose said in a statement following the vote. “we are excited to support such an important local business with a bit of flexibility as they get up and running once again. ACLS is not only a source of jobs in Norwich, but they support our two casinos, which are economic engines of the region and the entire state.”

“Atlantic City Linen Supply is pleased to be able to resume its laundry operations in Norwich, CT,” Victor Nappen, vice president of sales for the company’s parent, PureStar Linen Group, said in a statement issued following Tuesday’s vote. “It has been a difficult year for the hospitality industry, and as we work to reopen our facility, we thank the Connecticut casinos for their partnership and the City of Norwich and the Norwich Public Utilities for their support.”

Attorney Glenn Carberry, representing the firm, said operations at the Norwich plant will ramp up gradually as the casinos and hotels in the region also ramp up.

“We welcome this new agreement with the NPU and as the economy improves, we look forward to fully resuming a business that has been servicing local customers for over 20 years,” Nappen said in his statement.

c.bessette@theday.com