If you smell gas
Call 0800 002 001
The free Northern Ireland Gas Emergency Service, 24 hours a day, every day. Leave the building, open doors and windows, do not switch anything electrical on or off, and call from outside. The line covers the Gas to the West network and every other NI gas network.
SGN Natural Gas at a glance
Network
Gas to the West
Towns served
8 in the west of NI
Gas emergency line
0800 002 001 (24h)
Group
SGN Group (brand: Evolve)
Regulator
Utility Regulator (NIAUR)
Domestic gas supplier
SSE Airtricity
Sources: SGN Natural Gas (Evolve) and the Utility Regulator.
What SGN Natural Gas does, and what it does not
SGN Natural Gas owns the newest gas network in Northern Ireland. Like the other two networks, it owns the pipes but does not sell the gas. Here is the split.
SGN Natural Gas DOES
- +Own the mains, service pipes and meters in the eight Gas to the West towns;
- +Build out and extend the newest gas network in the region;
- +Connect new homes and businesses where the network reaches;
- +Respond to the network side of a reported gas escape.
SGN Natural Gas does NOT
- −Produce or import the gas itself;
- −Sell gas to you or send your bill (your supplier does);
- −Set or control your gas tariff;
- −Operate the high-pressure pipeline feeding the area (built by Mutual Energy).
The eight Gas to the West towns
Gas to the West brought mains gas to a part of Northern Ireland that had never had it. If you live in one of these towns, your gas pipes belong to SGN Natural Gas, where the network reaches your street.
Why there is only one gas supplier in the west
On the Gas to the West network, domestic customers are served by a single gas supplier, SSE Airtricity, the commissioning supplier for the area. The market is open and other suppliers are free to enter, but none has yet, so for now there is no rival to switch to, just as in the Ten Towns. Only Greater Belfast currently offers a real choice.
The insider point most guides miss
Gas to the West is the youngest network in the UK. A brand-new network with relatively few connected homes cannot yet attract competing suppliers, because the cost of serving a thin, spread-out customer base is too high to share. So the early years of any new gas area look like a single-supplier market, with the Utility Regulator, not competition, holding prices in check. The honest takeaway for a household in Omagh or Enniskillen: the decision that matters is whether to connect to gas at all versus your current heating, not which gas supplier to pick, because for now there is only one.
Who to call for what
The network and the supplier handle different things. A gas leak always goes to the shared emergency line.
| If your issue is... | Who to call |
|---|---|
| You smell gas or suspect a leak | NI Gas Emergency Service, 0800 002 001 |
| New gas connection | SGN Natural Gas (as network owner) |
| Bill, tariff or payment | Your gas supplier (SSE Airtricity) |
| Faulty meter or keypad top-up | Your gas supplier |
Live outside the west? Your network may be Phoenix Energy (Greater Belfast) or firmus energy (Ten Towns).
SGN Natural Gas: the Selectra expert answers your questions
Leave the building, open doors and windows, do not touch any electrical switches, and call the Northern Ireland Gas Emergency Service on 0800 002 001 from outside. It is free, 24 hours a day, every day, and covers every NI gas network including Gas to the West. Report a leak through the emergency line, not your supplier.
Gas to the West is a project that extended the natural gas network into the west of Northern Ireland, an area that previously had no mains gas at all. SGN Natural Gas was awarded the licence by the Utility Regulator to build and operate the network of mains, services and meters in eight western towns. The high-pressure pipeline feeding the area was built by Mutual Energy.
SGN Natural Gas owns and operates the gas network (the pipes and meters) in the eight Gas to the West towns and connects new properties to it. It does not produce the gas, sell it to you or send your bill. A separate gas supplier does that. For a gas leak you call the shared NI emergency line, not SGN.
Currently no. On the Gas to the West network, domestic gas is supplied by a single company, SSE Airtricity, so there is no alternative to switch to. The market is open to other suppliers, but none has entered the western network yet. This is the same situation as the Ten Towns network and different from Greater Belfast, where two suppliers compete. Switching availability in Northern Ireland depends entirely on your network area.
SGN Natural Gas is part of the SGN Group and operates under the Evolve brand. It holds its Northern Ireland licence from the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation (the Utility Regulator), which controls the charges it can make for use of the network.