Natural gas is coming to Worcester County, and soon residents and businesses could have a decision to make.

It’s a decision that should be welcomed by the lower shore community, but some education will most likely be needed before determining if it’s the right call for individual property owners.

The general benefits of natural gas include it’s typically the cleanest of all fossil fuels; it’s a domestic product, reducing foreign dependence on oil; it’s efficient because not much of the product is long in production to delivery cycle; its dependable in that it’s not on the typical delivery schedule associated with some fuels; and it can be used for multiple purposes in a home.

Once all the infrastructure work is put in place and natural gas becomes available, likely in early 2013 sometime, demand and interest will be weighed by the utility company. While the hope is to go wherever the demand is, economic factors will likely guide the direction. We think communities should express their interest now because it’s a change that could save them money while also helping being better environmental stewards.

Long thought to be a pipedream, this project could have significant impacts for all of us. We should all keep an eye on this work and do some research to determine if it’s something worthy of pursuing based on individual factors. We will continue to cover the story as noteworthy developments arise.

Some residents are already preparing for the arrival of natural gas that could come as early as the first quarter of 2013.

For example, a Berlin homeowner recently suffered extensive damage to his HVAC equipment from the storm back in August. Consequently, the owner decided to take the opportunity to get away from oil-based services at his home and went with gas, figuring the savings would be significant over time.

When informed by Eastern Shore Gas of the availability of natural gas within the next year, and understanding the benefits associated with it, he had his new system piped appropriately for natural gas at a small additional expense. He will be ready when the time comes and it appears that’s coming soon enough.