Unsafe electrical grounding on natural gas meters

Notice from EPCOR - Unsafe electrical grounding to EPCOR gas facilities

At EPCOR, our #1 priority is safety. We've become aware that some homebuilders and customers may be improperly placing grounding or bonding attachments to EPCOR natural gas meters or other components of the EPCOR gas system.

This practice is unsafe as well as ineffective for electrical grounding – and it has important legal implications.

Here's what you need to know

• Homebuilders or homeowners can bond a ground system to metal piping on the customer side of EPCOR service connections, or to an independent rod.
• Placing grounding or bonding attachments on EPCOR gas meters or other EPCOR facilities is unsafe and violates standards from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Fire Protection Association and the National Electric Code.
• For safety reasons, EPCOR will not work on gas meters if an improper connection is present on our side of the piping.

See details below.

Safety and operational details

Using EPCOR's natural gas equipment for grounding / bonding is not effective because it doesn't properly ground metal facilities.

This practice also puts people and the natural gas system at risk. It poses a shock hazard to homebuilders, EPCOR employees and customers and threatens the integrity of EPCOR's natural gas facilities by compromising the corrosion control systems that protect piping and other fixtures.

Legal requirements

U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline Safety Regulations require maintaining electrical isolation for the underground natural gas pipeline system from all foreign underground and above-ground metallic structures. Improper grounding on EPCOR facilities also violates standards of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and National Electric Code (NEC):

• NFPA 54, Section 7.12.5 – prohibits EPCOR facilities from being used as a ground for an electrical system and requires that EPCOR's gas facilities be electrically isolated from customer-owned facilities.
• NEC 250.104 (B) – requires that interior metal piping (such as customer gas fuel lines) that may become energized be electrically grounded so that fault currents may be safely discharged.
• NEC 250.52(B) – essentially prohibits grounding of any building electrical equipment or system to the EPCOR-owned gas facilities, such as a gas riser.

EPCOR policies

• EPCOR will not work on our meters or facilities if there is an improper connection of a ground to them.
• Before EPCOR conducts any work in such a situation, we must have written confirmation that a licensed electrician has relocated the grounding / bonding in a way that complies fully with all applicable codes and standards,