Hourly Update

Utility workers restore gas to 800 Southwest Side homes

Southwest Gas crews spent two days this week restoring service to nearly 800 new homes, which utility officials said is the result of rapid population growth on the Southwest Side. Higher than expected demand sent gas lines into a low-pressure situation early Tuesday, forcing utility workers house-to-house to turn off gas before installing a back-up line, said Libby Howell, spokeswoman for Southwest Gas. The population growth in the area, near West Valencia Road and South Camino Verde, has outpaced the capacity of the utility infrastructure, stressing the system. The outage affected 776 customers in several subdivisions of recently completed or under-construction homes. "The infrastructure we have in place there is not adequate to meet the growth," Howell said.