Gas Service Line to a New House: Free Footage and What You Pay After

Most gas utilities install a short service line free and charge for the rest, but the free distance and the price per foot vary by tariff. CenterPoint Energy in Minnesota installs up to 75 feet from the property line at no charge for a home heated with gas, then may charge $4.00 per foot. Nicor Gas in Illinois runs the pipe to your property line and 60 feet beyond it free, then charges $7.44 per foot for the next 90 feet of 1/2-inch pipe. Atmos Energy in Kentucky covers a 100-foot service line. Atmos Energy in Colorado now provides no allowance: the customer pays for the service line, the meter and any main extension.

For the full hookup budget, meter set and joint trenching, see gas line connection cost. For the electric side, see free footage for power lines.

Service line vs. main extension

• The main runs along the street or easement and serves many customers. If none passes your lot, the utility has to extend it, and main extensions have their own allowance.
• The service line runs from the main to your meter and serves only you. The utility installs and owns it.
• The meter set is the meter, regulator and fittings at the house. CenterPoint defines it as everything between the stopcock at the end of the service line and the connection to your piping.
• House piping starts at the meter outlet and belongs to you.

Free footage by utility

Residential service, gas used for space heating where the tariff requires it. Figures as printed; wording paraphrased. Documents checked September 24, 2026.

Kentucky’s footage comes from state rule. The Public Service Commission’s gas regulation, 807 KAR 5:022, requires a 100-foot main extension without charge for a customer who contracts for at least a year. For longer extensions, the customer deposits the cost of the excess and gets back the cost of 100 feet for each new customer connected directly to the extension over at least 10 years.

What “free” depends on

Where the tape measure starts

Nicor and Spire start counting at the property line, so the pipe under the street is free no matter how wide the road. CenterPoint lets you use the property line or the street centerline, whichever gives more free footage. Atmos Kentucky’s 100 feet is the length of the whole service line. Moving the meter changes the count too: CenterPoint bills the extra pipe when the meter can’t go in its normal location.

Whether you heat with gas

Most allowances assume gas heat. CenterPoint’s free service line and free main are for homes using gas for primary space heating. NorthWestern’s 150 feet requires gas for both heat and water heating. At Atmos Kentucky, a home without gas heat may owe a contribution toward the service line, capped at the company’s annual average service line cost. Monroe’s free main footage requires evidence that major gas appliances will be used.

Pipe size and volume

Nicor prices by pipe size, and non-residential or larger pipe costs more per foot. Spire’s footage allowance applies to homes using less than 6,000 CCF a year; above that, it runs an economic analysis.

Worked examples

Service line only, for a house whose meter sits 180 ft from the property line, gas heat. Uses each tariff’s printed rates; excludes the main, permits and house piping.

Main extensions produce bigger numbers. Take a lot 400 feet from the nearest main, one house, gas heat. At CenterPoint, the refundable advance is (400 − 100) × $3.00 = $900, repaid as more customers connect over five years. Under the Kentucky rule and Atmos Kentucky’s tariff, you deposit the cost of 300 feet, and each neighbor who connects directly to the new main returns the cost of 100 feet. At Spire, 175 feet are free, as long as Spire’s combined main and service investment stays within $1,000, and the other 225 feet are paid up front or through a monthly charge on the bills of customers served by the new main, for up to 15 years. At Atmos Mid-Tex, the first 75 feet in a public right-of-way are free and the other 325 need a reimbursement agreement. At Atmos Colorado, you pay for all 400 feet.

CenterPoint adds a seasonal charge. If the pipe goes in between December 1 and April 1 because the site or paperwork wasn’t ready in the normal season, it charges an extra $4.00 per foot of residential service line and $2.00 per foot of main. On the example above, that could mean 180 × $4.00 = $720 or more for the service line, since the pipe also runs from the main to the property line.

Refunds on a main you paid for

• Nicor: for 120 months after completion, each added customer earns you the estimated cost of 100 feet of low-pressure main (or 200 feet of high-pressure main). Refunds are paid once a year on review or when you notify the company.
• CenterPoint Minnesota: refunds without interest for up to five years, paid semi-annually; any balance becomes non-refundable after that.
• Spire Missouri: refunds only on deposits taken because the number of future customers was uncertain, and only if more customers connect within four years than estimated. Contributions paid under the financing option are not refunded.
• Atmos Kentucky: proportionate refunds over 10 years, paid only after you have used gas service for one continuous year.

All four cap refunds at what you paid.

The meter set

At most utilities the meter comes with the service. Spire furnishes the meter, regulator and accessories at its own expense, and Nicor installs and maintains all metering equipment. Atmos Colorado is the exception: the customer pays for the meter, sized to the expected load. Moving the meter later is a different matter: Spire’s current schedule bills customer-requested service and meter relocations at time and materials.

Who installs the house piping

The utility’s work ends at the meter outlet or within a few feet of it. Spire’s point of delivery is within three feet of the meter outlet. Atmos Mid-Tex’s is the outlet side of the meter, and its tariff makes the customer solely responsible for the selection, installation, maintenance, repair and inspection of customer piping. Monroe’s rules say the customer installs, owns and maintains everything downstream of the meter outlet. A licensed contractor runs and tests that piping under a local permit, and no utility allowance covers it.

Kentucky has a twist. Atmos Kentucky defines the point of delivery as the start of a customer-owned service line, if there is one, or the meter outlet, whichever is nearer the main. If your meter sits at the road, the pipe from there to the house may be yours to install and maintain.

How to get a quote

1. Ask whether a main runs along your frontage, and how far the nearest main is if not.
2. Submit a site plan with the meter location and a list of gas appliances with input ratings.
3. Ask for the service line allowance, how it is measured, the per-foot charge beyond it, and the same three answers for any main extension.
4. Ask whether payments are refundable and whether winter charges apply.
5. Get a separate contractor quote for house piping and the permit.

Then compare the total with the utility connection cost calculator. Related reading: utility extension cost, utility trenching cost, cost to bring utilities to land, new construction utility costs, cost to run power to a property, and the Texas and Colorado guides.

Frequently asked questions