CLEVELAND - Before digging, a toll-free call to the Ohio Utilities
Protection Service, (OUPS)
1-800-362-2764, can help customers and excavating contractors avoid costly damage
to Dominion and other underground utility lines on their properties. State law
requires customers and contractors to call OUPS at least two working days before
beginning any digging.
OUPS will alert Dominion and other participating utilities
of customers' plans to dig. OUPS will ask these utilities to mark the approximate
location of their underground gas lines and utility cables so that customers
won't find them by accident. Also, for safety's sake, customers and contractors
should only dig around utility lines by hand.
Some cable television or water companies are not part of this
service. Customers would need to contact those companies on their own. Knowing
the location of these utility lines will help customers avoid costly damage
or loss of service for themselves or their neighbors.
Dominion also reminds customers that the natural gas service
line, which connects the company's main line to the home or business, is the
property owner's responsibility. In short, Dominion does not own the gas service
line. Consequently, the property owner is responsible for replacing a leaking
natural gas service line.
Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy,
with a portfolio consisting of more than 24,000 megawatts of generation, 6.4
trillion cubic feet equivalent of natural gas reserves, 7,900 miles of natural
gas transmission pipeline and more than 960 billion cubic feet of storage capacity.
Dominion also serves five million retail energy customers in nine states. Additional
information about Dominion is available on the Internet at www.dom.com.
