Cease the Grease: Holiday Cooking Shouldn't Ruin Your Plumbing

Save yourself any pain in the drain! Don’t pour fat, oil, and grease down your drains while you are cooking for the holidays (or anytime for that matter). Hot grease is a liquid, but when it cools it solidifies and sticks to the inside of your pipes. This will cause blockages and clogged pipes in your home’s plumbing system. Clearing out those clogs can be expensive.

Fat, oil, and grease can also clog sewer lines and lead to sewer spills, which are bad for the environment (and your bathroom).

MYTH: Running hot water along with the fat, oil, and grease helps.

FALSE!

Don't believe the myth that it's okay to pour grease down the drain as long as you run the hot water at the same time. No amount of hot water keeps grease from eventually cooling and congealing. This only gets the grease through part of the pipes in your home. Once it goes into the sewer and cools, it sticks to the walls of the pipes and creates an expensive and messy problem of sewer backups - for you, for your neighbors, and for the creeks and rivers in your neighborhood.

LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW YOU CAN CEASE THE GREASE

GUC Offices to Close in Observance of Veterans Day and Thanksgiving Holidays

Greenville Utilities offices will be closed on Wednesday, November 11 in observance of the Veterans Day holiday.

GUC offices will also be closed on Thursday, November 26, and Friday, November 27, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Crews are on standby and our control room is always ready to help! Please call our Emergency Hotline at 1-855-SOS-2GUC (1-855-767-2482) for assistance with outages or other utility emergencies.

Neighbor to Neighbor

Our Neighbor to Neighbor program meets local needs by providing funds to assist low-income families in Pitt County with their heating bills. That includes forms of heat that are not provided by GUC, including all types of heating fuels (kerosene, oil, natural gas, electric heat, etc).

It’s a voluntary program, supported through GUC customers’ tax-deductible contributions. GUC matches contributions, up to $20,000 each year.

Neighbor to Neighbor is a partnership between GUC and the Pitt County Department of Social Services (DSS). 100% of contributions are used to assist families; there are no overhead costs.

Please consider joining GUC to support those in need. If everyone gives a little, it will make a big difference! Sign up is easy and convenient. You can make an automatic monthly donation of $1, $2, $5, $10, $15, $20 or more to be added to your GUC bill year-round, and you can stop or change the amount at any time. You can also make a lump sum donation by check or cash.

Read more about the Neighbor to Neighbor program at guc.com/community/neighbor-neighbor.

Operation Santa Toy Drive

As in years past, GUC is participating in the Operation Santa Toy Drive. We will be collecting toys November 23rd through December 4th. If you’d like to support this initiative, please bring new, unwrapped toys for children ages 12 and under to fill the Salvation Army toy boxes at the GUC office on Greene Street or the office on Greenville Boulevard.

Gas Department Earns Trust - Gold Award

For the first time, our Gas Department was awarded the Carolinas Public Gas Association’s (CPGA) T.R.U.S.T. (Training, Responsibility, Understanding Safety, and Transparency) Award at the Gold Level. This came after winning the award at the Silver level last year.

The T.R.U.S.T. Award recognizes organizations in the public gas sector who demonstrate excellence in safety, training, community outreach, and environmental responsibility. Just like last year, GUC had the highest overall score of the systems that applied.

The score was based in part on GUC’s data on the number of severe injuries during the year, number of damages per 1,000 locates, number of department-wide safety meetings per year, and supplemental safety committees.

Also scored was GUC’s support of professional skills development, linking those training needs to operational needs. Also factored in were GUC’s contributions to protecting the environment, promoting sustainable practices, and taking action to address environmental issues.

The award measured the department’s work in raising awareness about important issues, addressing local needs, and cultivating positive relationships with customers.

This is the second year the CPGA has presented these awards.

Preparing for Cooler Temperatures

Temperatures will begin to drop as the holiday season arrives. With low temps come high utility bills. Outdoor temperatures drive energy usage more than any other single factor.

On average, heating systems use about 60% of a home’s energy. As temps drop, our electricity and natural gas usage increases just to keep up and keep us warm – causing higher utility bills. Learn how to use less energy and save more money at www.guc.com/winter-tips.

Reduce the Impact of Winter’s Bite:

The weather is out of your control, but you can do things to take control and reduce your energy usage while remaining comfortable in the cold winter months. We encourage customers to:

Keep air filters clean (change them monthly) to help your heating system operate efficiently.
Set your thermostat to the lowest comfortable temperature. If you have an electric heat pump, set the thermostat at 68 degrees or lower. For other forms of heat, set the thermostat at 68 degrees, but if you are gone for several hours or more, set it at 55 degrees or lower while you’re away (but not so low that your pipes are in danger of freezing).
Make sure your home is well insulated.
Weather strip or caulk windows and doors to seal small cracks.
Insulate your water heater and set the temperature at 120 degrees.

Detecting a Natural Gas Leak

Natural gas is one of the most reliable, safest, and environment-friendly fuels to use today, but leaks can occur. Learn how to recognize a gas leak by hearing, seeing, and smelling. If you answer YES to these questions, take action immediately, you may have a gas leak:

Do you SEE blowing dirt, bubbling bodies of water, and dry spots in areas that are not typically dry?
Do you HEAR an unusual hissing sound near gas lines or appliances?
Do you SMELL the rotten-egg-like odor associated with natural gas no matter how faint? (Even the faintest smell should be reported immediately).

If you think you have a gas leak, please leave the area and call our Emergency Hotline immediately at 855-SOS-2GUC (855-767-2482). Learn more about natural gas safety at guc.com/natural-gas-safety.

Who to Call

If you have an outage or other utility emergency, call our Emergency Hotline at 1-855-SOS2GUC (1-855-767-2482). Someone is there to help you get the help you need 24/7, no matter the weather.