Owners bracing for the loss of natural gas service

There is still much uncertainty for property owners in the communities in and around Last Mountain Lake.

SaskEnergy announced Tuesday it would be shutting down the natural gas supply to about 250 homes in six communities.

Many have already received notice they will have to look for an alternative fuel supply.

“Propane is probably our only chance, my wife was hoping geothermal but I can’t, I don’t believe that is available to us,” said Dave Schultz, who has lived in Regina Beach for decades. “There’s not much we can do about it, I know SaskEnergy is going to probably help financially if we do decide to go to propane.”

Schultz called himself lucky that over the years that haven’t really faced issues until very recently, and mostly just some cracking.

It is a dilemma many homeowners now face throughout the resort area.

SaskEnergy is making the decision because of continued ground movement. It was that same shifting issue that caused the gas leak that led to the Regina Beach house explosion in December 2014.

Safety has to be the top priority for all according to the Mayor of Buena Vista, another of the affected communities.

“It is not just your residence, I mean you got people living across the street from you and little kids running down the road, it is for the betterment of everyone,” Bill Dinu maintained.

In Buena Vista, 62 properties will see gas supply shut down, which is about 10 per cent of the community.

Dinu admits that ground shifting is nothing new but was still surprised by how quickly SaskEnergy is making this decision.

“I thought it would happen more gradually,” Dinu said.

Dinu added SaskEnergy has been in the area, actively checking lines in recent years.

One of the residents in Buena Vista being affected in Jan MacMurchy. She has had property in Buena Vista for over 40 years.

She was surprised that she is needing to change over.

“It’s very disappointing because I’ve had no problems here at all, nothing like Regina Beach has,” MacMurchy said.

Despite no longer being able to use natural gas, she doesn’t plan on moving.

Residents have until Sept. 5 to transition their homes to other energy sources.

— With files from Sarah Mills and Britton Gray.