City of Vancouver lowers natural gas usage

It will be coolerthan usual in City of Vancouver buildingsthanks to measures officials aretaking to reduce natural gas use due to last week'spipeline rupture north of Prince George.

The city says it has lowered thermostats in all city-staff occupied buildings, recreational centres and Vancouver Public Library branches.

The decision came afterone of Enbridge's pipelines exploded and caught firenortheast of Prince George on Oct. 9.

The Park Board says it has not reduced temperaturesin pools or arenas or childcare centres.

FortisBC has asked British Columbians to reduce natural gas usage when possible due to the incident.

Several school districts Burnaby, Surrey, Langley,North Vancouver andDelta have also cut down on natural gas use by lowering their thermostats to 19 C and reducing hot water use.

There is currently no timeline for a fix on the mainline.

Social, housing services not impacted

In a statement, the city says it "does not foresee an impact to its housing operations or social service centres.

"We will continue to assess the situation and work to ensure that services for the city's most vulnerable residents are not affected," it read.

Nevertheless, it said it encouraged all residents to reduce natural gas usage when possibleby turning down thermostats, reducing the use of gas-powered hot water and cooking appliancesand turning off gas fireplaces.