Citizens employees overcame the challenges of the extremely cold temperatures in January by meeting demand and staying productive when the weather prevented field work.
During the extraordinarily cold weather in January, Citizens Energy Group delivered a record amount of natural gas to customers.
“Citizens met the needs of its customers during the record cold snap thanks to careful supply planning and the daily dedication of our employees,” said Jeffrey Harrison, President and CEO.
On Wednesday, January 30, the utility established a new one-day record for gas deliveries, eclipsing the previous single-day record set on January 1, 2018. The total system send-out on this record-breaking day was 670,279 dekatherms (dth). The previous single-day record was 661,079 dth, set in January 2010.
The Citizens steam system also performed well. The daily send-out on Thursday, January 31 was 361,241 therms (thm), nearing the single-day record of 382,559 thm.
Extreme winter weather also can pose a challenge for field personnel. When dangerous conditions exist, crews are sent out only for emergency response. Due to the very cold temperatures, many employees were unable to be in the field for a few days in January.
“When we knew that sub-zero temperatures were in the forecast, we ordered training materials and were prepared to be productive despite the weather that kept our crews inside,” said Paul Puckett, Director of Health, Safety and Security.
During this cold snap, more than 100 employees completed Smith System Defensive Driving training and learned how to navigate the new GIS mapping system.
What is a therm?
A therm (thm) is a unit of heat energy equal to 100,000 British Thermal Units (Btu). It is approximately the energy equivalent of burning 100 cubic feet of natural gas. A dekatherm is equal to 10 therms or 1,000,000 Btu. A high-efficiency residential furnace consumes about 80,000 Btu per hour (or 80 percent of a therm). A standard home consumes about 100 dekatherms per year.
