The ongoing construction of the city of Cle Elum's new natural gas system will reach a milestone Friday (Aug. 17) when natural gas begins flowing to Puget Sound Energy's first natural gas customer ? the Cle Elum-Roslyn School District complex along State Route 903.

The school district's elementary, middle and high school buildings will make the switch Friday from propane to clean, reliable, lower-cost natural gas to meet their space heating and hot-water needs.

?The Cle Elum-Roslyn School District is excited about our change to natural gas, with gas being a safer fuel, giving longer machinery life, and an easier delivery method that should prove more economical,? said Bill Davis, facilities manager for the district. ?This coupled with easier price forecasting and a partnership with PSE on grants for energy savings in the future makes this a good economic decision for the school district and all of our patrons.?

Meanwhile, PSE crews continue making steady progress on installing more than five miles of new natural gas mains and adjoining service lines within a 34-block area of Cle Elum. The new grid runs east from Billings Avenue along Second and Third streets, and for the downtown commercial core, in the alleys south of First Street.

The utility grid's construction, generally moving from west to east, is scheduled to be finished by early October, in time for the winter heating season. PSE expects to begin activating gas service for individual customers ? also in a west-to-east direction ? beginning in early September.

The neighborhood concentration of homes and businesses wanting natural gas service and their proximity to PSE's natural gas supply pipeline largely dictated where PSE's initial set of gas lines are being installed in Cle Elum. Liz Norton, PSE marketing manager, said the utility hopes customer demand will allow further build-out of PSE's Upper Kittitas County gas system in coming years.

?We'd like to bring the savings and convenience of natural gas service to more neighborhoods and communities in the area,? Norton said. ?We hope this is just the first phase of our Upper County grid-construction effort.?

Inquiries to PSE about natural gas service can be made by calling 1-800-562-1482 (then pressing option 1), or by visiting the utility's summer storefront (through August) in the Ingram Realty office at 301 E. First St., next to Cle Elum's Post Office.

PSE last year built a 20-mile supply pipeline from Thorp to Cle Elum to carry natural gas to the Upper County. At the Suncadia resort and housing development, where natural gas mains already are in place, natural gas began flowing to homes and businesses in February.

About Puget Sound Energy

Washington state's oldest and largest energy utility, with a 6,000-square-mile service territory stretching across 11 counties, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) serves more than 1 million electric customers and 721,000 natural gas customers. A subsidiary of Puget Energy (NYSE:PSD), PSE meets the energy needs of its growing customer base through incremental, cost-effective energy conservation, low-cost procurement of sustainable energy resources, and far-sighted investment in the energy-delivery infrastructure. Visit www.PSE.com for more information.

Editor's Note: Representatives from the Cle Elum-Roslyn School District and Puget Sound Energy will be present at 10:30 a.m. Friday (Aug. 17) to officially turn on natural gas service to the district's school buildings. A media photo and video opportunity is available at that time. The schools are located at 2690 SR 903 in Cle Elum.

Puget Sound Energy
Roger Thompson, 1-888-831-7250