Norwich - Tuesday's referendum approval of a $9.5 million expansion of the Norwich Public Utilities natural gas system will not just be a project for the future; it will allow 25 customers to hook into the system this fall.

This will be the third expansion of the gas line in recent years.

But NPU General Manager John Bilda said Wednesday the $5.5 million approved by voters in 2012 has been exhausted, with 25 residential customers awaiting hookups this fall. Bilda said those hookups now will go forward before winter.

NPU officials earlier had anticipated running out of funding by spring and starting the new expansion at that time.

Bilda said Wednesday that with the referendum approval in hand - by a solid 4,539 to 2,697 vote - utility officials will start working on the expansion plan.

As pledged, the expansion will not cost taxpayers or current gas ratepayers any money, but rather will be paid for by the new revenues from new customers along the route.

"We will start prioritizing areas where there has been a lot of interest," Bilda said, "the areas by Moriarty School, the Occum section of Norwich, and we're evaluating Scotland Road and the Case Street area and all the side streets in those areas. We have to continue to evaluate all these areas."

Bilda said there are no major commercial areas in Norwich that remain without natural gas lines, but several small businesses in Occum - including a convenience store, restaurants, gas stations and auto service businesses - could benefit from a new gas line.

There is one major potential commercial area included in the bond referendum: $2 million to extend an NPU gas line to the former Norwich Hospital property in Preston, which is being marketed as Preston Riverwalk.

NPU has the natural gas franchise in Preston and already has lines in the vicinity of the former state hospital. A high-pressure line suitable for large commercial development is in place along Route 2 and extends to Route 2A to serve T&C Greenhouses and Captain Grant's Bed & Breakfast. That line could be brought to Route 12 to serve large commercial customers, Bilda said.

A low-pressure line suitable to residential development runs down Route 12 to a point just north of the Preston border. Bilda said if residential development comes to the Preston Riverwalk property, that line might be suitable to serve it.

Preston First Selectman Robert Congdon and Preston Redevelopment Agency Chairman Sean Nugent welcomed the Norwich referendum approval and thanked NPU for including Preston Riverwalk in the bond package.

The two Preston officials said the approval will help in the marketing of the former hospital property, as it would allow Preston officials to directly answer a developer's question about utility availability.

"It makes the time it would take to respond to a developer's needs much, much shorter," Congdon said, "which is a good thing because, once the need is identified, they would have the resources to get the job done within a short period of time."

Congdon said extending a line to Preston Riverwalk benefits Norwich as well, because NPU turns over 10 percent of utility gross revenue to city coffers.

c.bessette@theday.com

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