Dominion Energy is bringing natural gas infrastructure to the town of Goshen.

The construction company responsible for the project, Niels Fugal Sons, will start laying the infrastructure Monday, according to Goshen Mayor Steven Staheli. The project will cost approximately $11 million to bring natural gas services to Goshen and Elberta, the neighboring census-designated place.

The costs are covered through the House Bill 422, Natural Gas Infrastructure Amendments, passed in 2018, according to Staheli.

The bill, “Authorized the Public Service Commission to spread rural gas infrastructure development costs to the larger customer base and to approve the inclusion of rural gas infrastructure development costs within a gas corporation’s base rates under certain circumstances.”

Dominion’s website said this will be the second project completed under the legislation.

Approximately five miles of pipelines will supply natural gas to the area. By bringing natural gas to both towns, nearly 340 homes and businesses. According to Dominion, providing these services would help the area’s expected and potential growth.

Staheli said citizens are eager for the project to begin. The Utah State Public Service Commission approved $11 million for the infrastructure.

“We did a survey during fall 2021 to see which citizens would be in favor of it,” Staheli said.

He said the entire project seems almost too good to be true.

“Because of the House Bill, it’s completely free to our citizens,” he said. “Clear up to your house, everything is paid for. The lines to the house, the meters and the lines in town are completely free. Their only obligation is to hook up to natural gas within two years. If they wait more than two years, it will cost whatever the going rate is for natural gas.”

Goshen would not have been able to afford bringing natural gas services to its citizens without the aid of HB422 as the town is still running off solid fuels. Staheli said the town tried to bring in natural gas years ago, but discovered it was too costly.

An open forum was hosted at the Goshen Senior Citizens Center Wednesday evening for the public to meet with Dominion representatives. Staheli said representatives announced that  by switching to natural gas, residents would be saving a third of what they currently pay.

Staheli said that while only 30 people attended, Dominion representatives have been going door-to-door for weeks trying to talk with residents and get them signed up for natural gas services.

Dominion representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

“It’s good for Goshen to finally have a reliable, clean source of fuel,” he said. “There has been an overwhelming amount of excitement from the citizens. I know the school district is really excited to have the Goshen Elementary School on natural gas. This will be a great way to start cleaning up the city.”

Newsletter