FARMINGDALE — Some town residents will soon be able to choose to convert to natural gas after Summit Natural Gas broke ground on an expansion project this week.

According to Matt Jacobson, director of sales and marketing for Summit, said the $3 million project could bring natural gas to an initial group of 109 customers.

Jacobson said customers along Maine Avenue, and Sheldon, Grant and Maple streets will have access to natural gas by second week of July. He said laying the mainline along Maine Avenue will give the company better access to side streets and neighborhoods in the future.

Summit has enough commitments from customers to justify the initial project, Jacobson said. He said the “universe” of the pipeline contains 70 residential and 39 commercial customers, but he declined to say how many commitments the company had due to customer privacy.

The Kennebec Journal reported last year that the company rekindled its interest in expanding to Farmingdale after a project fizzled out in 2012 when residents shot down a tax break for the project.

Jacobson said last year that the company was “not contemplating asking for any tax incentive” for this project. Town Clerk Rose Webster confirmed Thursday that there will be no tax break for the company.

Selectboard Chairperson Nancy Frost said Thursday that the town was “definitely planning on natural gas at the fire station,” but the selectboard hasn’t discussed switching over the Town Office from its current oil boiler.

Summit and the Efficiency Maine Trust are currently offering rebates and incentives for those who switch, in the amount of up to $3,400 for residential customers and up to $6,650 for commercial customers. The deadline for those rebates is June 30.

The work is being done by Ferreira Construction Company. Portions of the project will take place at night to reduce impact on traffic and limit interaction with the public.

Related Headlines


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.