It’s a collision of history and progress.
As UGI Utilities works to replace old pipelines throughout neighborhoods in the Lehigh Valley , it’s installing new natural gas meters — small industrial-looking boxes attached to pipes or connectors — on the outside of historic homes in downtown Easton.
But moving the residential gas meters from basements, where many of them were placed years ago, to exterior walls has upset residents and preservationists who don’t wish for the unsightly devices on urban streets.
They say UGI is ignoring state regulations that allow meters to be inside homes that are historically registered. UGI, which sells natural gas to thousands of customers in 46 counties, including Lehigh and Northampton, believes placing the meters outside enhances safety, access and convenience.
The pipelines are being replaced as a safety measure. UGI is upgrading hundreds of miles of sometimes century-old cast- and wrought-iron distribution lines before a 2027 deadline established after a deadly gas blast in Allentown leveled half a city block and killed five people . Company spokesperson John Mason said approximately 18 miles of old lines remain to be replaced in the Valley, including about 2.5 miles in Allentown.