FAIRFIELD — Summit Natural Gas intends to expand gas lines into the town’s residential core this spring and hopes to have service available to 80 percent of the town by the time it has finished its buildout.

But connecting to the new system will depend on consumer demand, which means some proposed lines may not be built unless there is sufficient interest in converting heating systems to natural gas.

Mike Duguay, Summit’s director of business development, laid out the company’s plans to the Fairfield Town Council at its meeting Thursday.

The Fairfield buildout is part of the company’s 68-mile backbone pipeline stretching from Pittston to Madison, a project that began in 2013 and so far has cost $350 million.

The company’s 2015 plans include laying 21,000 linear feet of two-inch pipe through the dense residential core near downtown, Duguay said.

The proposed Savage Street pod includes neighborhoods bordered north to south by Kelley and Cottage streets and west to east by Savage and High streets.

Summit estimates there are potentially 1,940 residential customers and 140 commercial customers in Fairfield. Its proposed final buildout includes 296,500 feet of pipe, estimated to cost $13.9 million, according to figures provided to the town by the company.

While previous construction seasons have meant some traffic disruption, Duguay said the smaller transmission lines can be drilled underground and the process will be “much less intensive.”

The company also plans to schedule its work so it can give “a much more reliable calendar” for when pipelines will be installed, Duguay said.

Summit started installing a natural gas pipeline in downtown Fairfield in 2013. The eight-inch pipe now extends down Main and High streets to Summit Street, Lawrence High School and into neighborhoods north of downtown.

But unlike that “backbone infrastructure,” the scale of this year’s project will depend on consumer demand, Duguay said.

“It’s demand driven,” he said. “The more people who want it, and the more people whose neighbors want it, the faster it goes in.”

That also means that if demand isn’t strong enough, the company may delay installing pipelines on certain streets until it can be sure it has customers, Duguay noted.

“We’d like to put a line into every one of these streets, but if there are pockets of no interest at all, we could reevaluate,” Duguay said in an interview outside the council meeting. If the company delays some projects, it can return to them next year, he added.

Connecting natural gas to rural parts of Fairfield, such as Shawmut and Fairfield Center, may prove challenging, Duguay said, since the company will need to see strong demand to make installing new pipelines worthwhile.

So far, the company has received a fair amount of interest in Fairfield, but the company is encouraging people to call and learn more about natural gas service, Duguay noted. “It takes time to educate people about this,” he said.

On its website, the company says that switching to natural gas from heating oil will save the average residential customer $1,500 a year. Summit is also offering incentives like money for heating system conversions and energy efficiency home updates to entice new customers.

Councilors seemed mainly positive about the company’s proposal. Councilor Stephanie Thibodeau said that her home switched to natural gas last year and had probably saved $850 this winter.

“I’m very pleased,” she said.

Peter McGuire — 861-9239

pmcguire@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @PeteL_McGuire

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