As cold temperatures approach, the Mark Twain House & Museum has become a natural gas customer for the first time since the famed author lived there.
The museum signed a contract recently with Connecticut Natural Gas (CNG) to supply the fuel for its heating system, which previously ran on oil. Museum officials decided on the switch several years ago, citing attractive prices and the anticipation they will remain stable.
“As a not-for-profit organization, it’s important that we make prudent choices about how we budget our energy dollars so that we can focus on our mission of educating the public and preserving Mark Twain’s legacy,” Executive Director Cindy Lovell said in a statement from CNG. “Natural gas is attractively priced, and rates are stable and consistent. It also makes sense from a historical perspective. It’s a good fit.”
Though Twain found gas at the time to be unreliable for heat, he did rely on it for gas lights in the 25-room Hartford home he built in 1874.
Gas lights were considered a modern luxury at the time, with the spread of electric lights in the area still at least a decade away.
Twain was a customer of the Hartford Gas Co., a predecessor company of CNG, which today is owned by Avangrid.
While switching a customer to gas is commonplace for CNG, which converts thousands of properties a year, the company saw a marketing opportunity in its historical connection with Twain, which it detailed in a recent press release about the museum’s switch.
“Mark Twain and his family chose the convenience of gas at their home, and 143 years later it’s still a convenient and cost-effective choice for Connecticut families,” said Terri Eller, director of commercial and industrial sales at CNG.
Twain wrote Hartford Gas at least several complaint letters about the gas being shut off and the spacing of nearby streetlights.
CNG is one of several Connecticut gas utilities pushing to add customers, following the 2014 launch of a state plan to convert 280,000 customers to gas over by 2024.
So far, low oil prices have been a hurdle for the program, which is opposed by oil dealers. The Connecticut Energy Marketers Association sued the state, and managed to get the Connecticut Supreme Court to review the matter. The High Court heard oral arguments earlier this month, but has not yet issued a decision.
