Aspen, Colo. — December 27, 2020 —Black Hills Energy has identified additional damage to its system due to vandalism that occurred on December 27. To safely facilitate necessary repairs, technicians will go door to door and turn off the approximately 3,500 impacted gas meters in the city to ensure the safety of the community beginning at 10 p.m. tonight. After making repairs and re-pressurizing the system, service will be restored to impacted residents and businesses.
Residences and businesses in the area depicted on the attached map will be affected beginning at 10:00 p.m. Black Hills Energy will continue updating customers and the community on anticipated timelines for restoration. At locations where no one is home or the business is closed, employees will leave a tag on the door, notifying the customer that the natural gas has been shut off and with instructions to call the company to have it turned back on.
It is extremely important that customers do not attempt to re-light their own pilot lights on their furnaces or water heaters. Black Hills Energy technicians will re-light the appliances of all impacted customers.
Because of extreme temperatures, Aspen residents are encouraged to contact their neighbors who may be out of town. Please ask them to call Black Hills Energy’s customer service so the company can check their home or building to make sure they have service so water pipes don’t freeze.
If any customer smells natural gas, they should leave their home immediately and call 911 and then Black Hills Energy’s emergency service line from a neighbor’s home or from a cell phone at 888-890-5554. Don’t use the phone in the house where you smelled gas or turn off any lights as you leave. If there is gas in the house, a spark of any kind could ignite it and cause serious property and personal injuries.
Customers can call 888-890-5554 if they experience any natural gas service issues. Do not call 911 for non-emergency questions regarding when service will be restored. Contact Black Hills Energy with all non-emergency questions.