National Grid agrees to $1 million settlement for 2023 Oneida house explosion

ONEIDA, NY – The New York State Public Service Commission on Thursday accepted the terms of a $1 million settlement agreement that would resolve all of National Grid’s alleged violations related to a natural gas incident at 532 W. Elm St., Oneida, in Madison County on March 9 September 2023. The commission’s decision is based on the staff’s investigation of the incident.

Early on September 9, 2023, a person rammed a stolen vehicle into a residence at 532 West Elm Street, Oneida, Madison County. The vehicle crashed into the outside gas meter of the house and completely destroyed the shut-off valve on the gas meter. The damage to the gas meter led to an above-ground natural gas leak. 911 dispatchers contacted National Grid for a local response to the incident. Several neighboring homes were evacuated by responding law enforcement and firefighters.

Stolen vehicle crashes into Oneida’s house, triggering explosion

A responding National Grid employee concluded that he could not stop gas from being injected into the residence, so he called the National Grid department to request a specialized gas operations unit. However, this employee did not call for an electrical operations crew to shut off power to the residence, nor did he take action to shut off the power using available tools. After about three hours had passed while National Grid teams prepared their equipment and personnel, the apartment building exploded violently, completely destroying the building. Fortunately, no one was injured in the explosion.

Bodycam footage of Oneida house explosion released

The investigation found that the dispatched National Grid employee, as a first responder, took no action to shut off power to the residence and therefore appears to have failed to remove potential ignition sources. The National Grid employee also apparently failed to request additional assistance to shut off power to a residence that was filled with flammable natural gas for approximately three hours.

The investigation also found that National Grid’s policies and procedures do not appear to contain sufficiently detailed protocols for interrupting power during a natural gas emergency. Employees interviewed the National Grid dispatcher and determined that he did not appear to have reported the explosion incident to the Department of Public Service in a timely manner. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, National Grid shareholders will pay $1 million for enhanced safety measures and training to prevent similar incidents in the future.

“The Commission takes its mission to ensure the safety of the public very seriously,” said Commission Chairman Rory M. Christian. “This gas explosion shows that we will hold utility shareholders fully accountable for violations through enforcement actions to protect the public.”