Dominion Reminds Customers: Play It Safe, Call Before You Dig
Now that the weather is warming up, Dominion East Ohio reminds
customers and contractors to call before digging any landscape or construction
projects. By making a toll-free call to the Ohio Utilities Protection Service
(OUPS) at 1-800-362-2764, customers may avoid costly damage to Dominion and
other underground utility lines on their properties.
State law requires customers and contractors call OUPS at
least two working days before excavation starts. Customers should only dig around
utility lines by hand with a shovel. Knowing the location of these utility lines
will help customers avoid costly damage or loss of service for themselves or
their neighbors.
OUPS will alert the gas company 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. This is a free service.
Dominion East Ohio, and other member utilities of the Ohio
Gas Association, will be conducting a statewide advertising and public awareness
campaign to remind customers and contractors that state law requires them to
make that toll-free call to OUPS. If customers and contractors break the law
by not calling before they dig, they may be responsible for paying for damages,
which often can cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair.
For more natural gas safety information, visit www.safegasohio.org,
or go to the Ohio Utilities Protection Service site at www.oups.org.
Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy,
with an energy portfolio of about 28,100 megawatts of generation. Dominion also
serves retail energy customers in nine states. For more information about Dominion,
visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com.
