Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Public Utilities Regulatory Authority

Electric and gas utilities have begun notifying residential customers with unpaid and/or past-due balances that if they do not take action and contact their utility to enroll in a payment plan, they are at risk of having their gas services terminated on Thursday, May 2, 2024. If your household has received a notification from your utility company, please contact them directly to set up a payment plan to keep your services on. These plans charge no interest, and all customers qualify at least once for one or more of these plans. After engaging with utility providers, customers may also contact PURA’s customer affairs unit for specific questions regarding payment arrangements. View eligibility, utility contact information

Press Releases

04/01/2024

Governor Lamont Declares April 2024 'Call Before You Dig Month'

Call 811 or visit CBYD.com Before Digging

(New Britain, CT – April 1, 2024) – The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA or the Authority) today announces Governor Ned Lamont has issued a proclamation declaring April 2024 as “Call Before You Dig Month” in Connecticut to remind residents and contractors about the importance of calling 811 or visiting www.CBYD.com at least 48 hours before starting any digging project.

By law, any individual, contractor, utility, or public agency planning to excavate using power or mechanized equipment must notify Call Before you Dig, Inc. (CBYD) at least two full business days prior to digging. CBYD then notifies all owners and operators of buried utilities of an intent to dig to ensure lines, cables, pipes, and conduits can be properly located and marked by the standardized color-coding system.

The free program helps protect water, natural gas, sewer, and telecommunications infrastructure and prevent serious injuries, fires and explosions, utility outages and costly repairs.

“Contacting CBYD is an easy step that can save lives and prevent damages to buried utilities and surrounding facilities,” said Governor Ned Lamont. “This notification service will be critical as warmer weather and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act increases construction activity across the state.”

PURA's Gas Pipeline Safety Unit oversees all CBYD activity across Connecticut and may open an investigation and impose fines for any party who violates the statutes and regulations. In 2023, PURA found 80 total violations at 828 CBYD inspections that amounted to approximately $1.4 million in civil penalties.

"Using 811 and excavating carefully around all underground utilities is essential to keep workers and the nearby public safe from dangers that can come from utility strikes," said Karl Baker, head of PURA’s Gas Pipeline Safety Unit. "Connecticut consistently has among the lowest damages rates in the country because excavators follow these two simple steps."

In recent years, failure to notify the 811-call center remained the largest individual root cause of damages to underground infrastructure in the U.S. and Canada, according to a report by North American trade association Common Ground Alliance. In 2022, the most recent year on record, there were more than 233,000 reported damages and near misses in the U.S. Natural gas and telecommunications facilities incurred more than half of those damages and near misses, the report said.

To learn more, visit PURA’s CBYD webpage or watch this instructional video about the CBYD program.


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For Immediate Release: April 1, 2024
Contact: Taren O’Connor
Taren.Oconnor@ct.gov
860-999-3498

Joe Cooper
Joe.Cooper@ct.gov
860-944-9459