‘It’s all looking forward to the future’

  HARLAN — For 70 years, Harlan Municipal Utilities (HMU) has provided natural gas services within the City limits of Harlan and beyond. HMU is planning for continued urban growth, and is currently working on a project which will ensure the city’s natural gas needs are met.
 HMU began providing natural gas services to the City of Harlan  in 1954. Northern Natural Gas was responsible for construction of the 19.6 mile pipeline from the main gas line near Marne to HMU’s town border station (TBS) east of Harlan. This pipeline was installed in the fall of 1954. Concurrent with the installation of service lines and construction of the pipeline were the efforts of local hardware stores and plumbers to convert household furnaces and appliances from fuel oil to natural gas or sell new gas appliances.
 Currently, HMU has 40 miles of gas main lines in Harlan, which includes 30 miles of coated steel and 10 miles of specially designed plastic.
 HMU recently completed upgrading and rebuilding the TBS, located north of Essentia on Highway 44. The border station project is the first step to supply a higher volume of natural gas to Harlan’s expanding needs. The next phase of the project is improvements to Northern Natural Gas’s regional pipline. This will allow HMU to purchase more gas for additional businesses and community expansion. “It’s quite the process to get more volume,” Colburn Warner, HMU’s Electric/Gas Superintendent, said. The process includes bidding during what the gas contractors call “Open Season”, when any other utility on the same branch line can bid on additional volume of natural gas.
 Natural gas is purchased through Clayton Energy,  and transported by Northern Natural Gas through regional pipelines to the TBS. At the TBS, the gas is measured and pressure is reduced. Odorant is added at another location to help detect leaks. The upgrades to the TBS began mid-summer, and were completed in September. The cost of the project was roughly $750,000, Joe Rueschenberg, HMU CEO said.
 Winter is rapidly approaching, and Rueschenberg said gas rates will depend on varying factors such as temperature and consumption. “The cost for the gas that HMU purchases has increased slightly from last year, but HMU and Clayton Energy have worked hard to hedge gas prices.”
  HMU currently has 2,300 gas meters in the system, and is preparing to meet future growth for the City of Harlan.
 “It’s all looking forward to the future,” Rueschenberg said.
 Editor’s Note: This article is the second in a series of articles highlighting each of HMU’s departments and recent improvements.