How gas regulator stations keep the pressure up when the mercury drops

Driving around your community, you may notice the pipes sticking out of the ground with gauges and valves and wonder what purpose they serve.

They’re called gas regulator stations and they play an important role in delivering reliable natural gas to your home or business, especially during severe winter weather.

Natural gas transmission lines are pressurized at 200-plus pounds per square inch (PSI). The regulator stations reduce the pressure before it goes into the smaller distribution lines that serve your community.

When temperatures drop into the teens or even single digits, gas furnaces must work harder to maintain comfortable temperatures in the home. The difference between the outside temperature and the thermostat setting can be as much as 50 or even 60 degrees. When that happens, natural gas demand goes up and the regulators provide an increase in pressure for the system.

However, in high-density areas, pressure decreases can cause issues where demand is extremely high. CoServ is working hard to address this by adding higher capacity gas lines throughout our service territory and upgrading other infrastructure to ensure reliable service during extreme winter weather.

CoServ Gas Techs can manually increase the pressure in the distribution line from normal operation, typically about 50 psi, to as much as 66 psi during cold snaps.

“When temperatures dip into the teens, CoServ Gas Techs will stay out there 24 hours a day throughout the cold snap to ensure reliable service for our Customers,” said Doneld Williams, CoServ’s Gas Service Manager.