Columbia Gas Executives Available For Questions At Open Houses

NORTH ANDOVER, MA -- Executives from Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, including the chief executive of its parent company NiSource, are scheduled to appear at a series of open houses in Andover, lawrence and North Andover this weekend. The sessions are aimed at making offiicials available to residents who have questions and concerns about the recovery effort from the Sept. 13 gas explosions, which damaged or destroyed 131 buildings and left hundreds of customers in the communities without heat and hot water.

The utility said NiSource Inc. Chief Executive Officer Joe Hamrock and Columbia Gas of Massachusetts President Steve Bryant will deliver remarks at each opening house, while Chief Recovery Officer Joe Albanese and Chief Restoration Officer Pablo Vegas will field questions during a Q&A session.

Note: Due to inaccurate information provided to the Town of North Andover by Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, an earlier version of this story had the incrrect dates and times for the open houses. The corrected versions are listed below.

The sessions are scheduled for the following dates and times:

• Saturday, Oct. 27 at the NorthAndover Senior Center at 120 R Main Street: The Executive Q&A will run from 8-9 am, while the open house ends at 11.
• Saturday, October 27 at Lawrence High School at 70-71 N. Parish Road: The Executive Q&A will run from 1-2 pm, while the Open House runs from 1-5 pm.
• Saturday, Oct. 27 at the Doherty Middle School at 50 Bartlet Street in Andover: The Executive Q&A runs from 3-4 pm and the Open House runs from 1-4 pm.

Columbia Gas said officials will be able to answer questions on a range of topics, including alternate housing solutions, personal and commercial claims, appliance and equipment installation, home and business re-lights, construction, energy efficiency, gas safety and billing.

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File photo of Columbia Gas of Massachusetts President Steve Bryant addressing the media on Sept. 23 by Jenna Fisher/Patch.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).