Pilot Safety Inspections

Our Pilot Safety Inspection program begins August 11 and will run through February 28, 2015. Customers can arrange an appointment beginning August 11. Appointments scheduled between September 2 and September 30 are free. Appointments scheduled between October 1 and December 31 will incur a $55 fee. The fee will be billed to the customer’s account and covers up to three gas heating appliances. Each additional appliance over three will incur an additional $17 fee. The service is free to physically challenged customers or seniors (60 years and older).

To schedule an appointment, customers must call 820-7878. The Interactive Voice Response system (IVR) can also be used to schedule an appointment using the 16-digit account number.

Appointments are available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays or Saturdays for one of the following time slots:

• 8 a.m.-noon • noon-4 p.m. • 4 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Saturday appointments are either 8 a.m.-noon or noon-4 p.m.

New Equipment Installation At Germantown Gate Station

Residents near the Germantown Gate Station, 2121 N. Germantown Road, may smell the odor of gas in the air as MLGW Gas Operations installs new odorizing equipment at the station this morning. The work starts at approximately 9:15 a.m. and will take a week to complete.

Gas has no smell; the odorizing equipment injects an odorant into the gas, providing the smell that enables leaks to be detected. There will be an odor of gas in the air during the start up—which will be removing the equipment—and after the equipment is installed and tested.

Even though the gas odor is related to MLGW work, if customers suspect a gas leak near their homes, they should call 528-4465 to report it.

Agreement Reached on Leahy Park

Park tenants will not be disconnected next week

An agreement has been reached to hold utility cutoffs at Leahy’s Motel, 3070 Summer, until August 19 so that current residents can find alternative living arrangements. All services will be disconnected on August 19 if utilities payment has not been resolved.

Leahy’s Motel is the MLGW customer and its tenants pay Leahy’s for utility services. An aging water infrastructure inside the complex appears to have leak issues beyond the ability of the owner to control. That has affected the owner's ability to pay for utilities.

MLGW, the City of Memphis, Public Works Director Dwan Gilliom, City Councilman Jim Strickland and City Councilwoman Wanda Halbert worked to come up with a temporary solution to the problem.

Response to MLGW Giving City of Memphis $300 million for Pension Crisis

From Jerry Collins Jr., MLGW President and CEO:

In response to the recent suggestion that MLGW should loan the City of Memphis $300 million, it should be noted that such a loan would exhaust MLGW’s working capital balances. A prudent utility should maintain at least 45 days worth of working capital in order to be able to pay its monthly electric power and natural gas bills from its suppliers. In 2013, MLGW paid approximately $1.2 billion for electric power and natural gas out of a total budget of $1.85 billion. The bottom line is that the current MLGW working capital balances are appropriate to meet cash flow needs and to maintain our excellent bond ratings. MLGW continues to provide the lowest combined utility rates of any major city in the country.

Neighborhood Leaders Conference on August 1st

The MLGW Neighborhood Leaders Conference is scheduled for Friday, August 1, 2014 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at our Training Center (4949 Raleigh-LaGrange at Covington Pike.) The conference is an annual event designed to provide training and networking opportunities for grassroots community leaders.

The conference will feature a Plenary Session led by City of Memphis CAO George Little entitled Memphis Government 101 and two other sessions that have concurrent workshops. This year's theme is Transforming Neighborhoods Through the Arts and workshops topics include Mural Making, Bringing Ideas to Life-Create Memphis, Blogging, Connect with MLGW, Transforming Vacant Buildings, and -25 SQ Public Art Initiative.

Registration is $10 and includes a continental breakfast, buffet lunch and choice of workshops. Individuals can view the full brochure and register on-line at www.mlgw.com/neighborhoodleader and those who register on-line may pay the registration fee on site the day of the conference.

For more information contact MLGW Community Relations at 528-4820.

MLGW Crews Continue to Work Outages Today

Approximately 9,000 MLGW customers remain without power today after a strong line of thunderstorms rolled through Memphis around 5 p.m. on Monday. MLGW crews are working today to restore those outages and 19 contract crews will assist with restoration efforts. MLGW predicts full restoration by mid-night Thursday.

MLGW is reinforcing the need for safety around downed power lines and other potential hazards.
Customers should avoid contact with downed power lines—even if their home or area has experienced a loss of power, the lines could still be energized.

Customers are reminded to call the following numbers:

• To Report an Outage: 544-6500

• To Report an Emergency (such as downed lines or gas leaks): 528-4465

• Outage numbers can be tracked via MLGW's outage map at mlgw.com/outagemap.

MLGW Crews Working To Restore Power

More than 30,000 MLGW customers are without power resulting from a strong line of thunderstorms with high winds Monday afternoon. MLGW crews are currently working to assess damages and restore power.

MLGW is reinforcing the need for safety around downed power lines and other potential hazards.

Customers should avoid contact with downed power lines—even if their home or area has experienced a loss of power, the lines could still be energized.

Customers are reminded to call the following numbers:

To Report an Outage: 544-6500

To Report an Emergency (such as downed lines or gas leaks): 528-4465

Outage numbers can be tracked via MLGW's outage map at mlgw.com/outagemap.