Xcel Energy serves natural gas throughout Longmont, and while the utility responds to reported leaks and can shut off service, locating the exact failure point and completing a repair is licensed plumbing work. The steel gas lines running to Longmont's Old Town and Prospect New Town homes are often the same age as the galvanized and copper supply lines now failing throughout the same neighborhoods — decades in the ground, with bentonite expansive clay movement working joints and fittings loose the same way it stresses water lines.
Unlike a pinhole leak, a gas leak rarely leaves a slow, hidden trail for a water bill to reveal. Usually it is a faint rotten-egg smell near a meter or appliance, a hissing sound, or in bad cases, a dead patch of grass over a buried line. That smell is a signal to leave the house immediately, not to investigate room by room.
What to Do First If You Smell Gas
Leave the house immediately. Do not flip a light switch, use a phone indoors, or search for the source with a lighter. If you can reach the meter without lingering, shut the gas off with a wrench, a quarter turn so the valve sits perpendicular to the pipe. Call Xcel Energy from outside, then call (303) 552-3896. Only Xcel Energy can restore service to the meter once a repair is complete, which is why we coordinate with them directly rather than around them.
Where Gas Leaks Most Often Start in Longmont
Flexible appliance connectors to a stove, dryer, or water heater have a service life, and a common failure point is a fixture swapped with the old connector reused. Meter sets on older Old Town homes sometimes carry thread sealant never rated for current line pressure. Buried steel service lines corrode in the ground and shift with the region's expansive clay, showing up as a smell in the yard or dead grass in a straight line. Once Xcel Energy confirms it is safe to proceed, we pressure-test the line in sections and use a combustible gas detector along every joint and connection, tracing buried yard lines with the same acoustic methods used on buried water leaks.
We carry gas detection equipment on every service truck across the Longmont service area, including Old Town Longmont, Prospect New Town, and all adjacent communities including Lyons and Mead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to stay inside if I smell a little gas?
No. Leave immediately and call from outside. A faint smell can concentrate quickly in an enclosed space, and there is no reliable way to judge severity by nose alone.
Will Xcel Energy find the leak for me?
Xcel Energy responds to reported leaks and can shut off service if needed, but locating the exact failure point and completing the repair is licensed plumbing work, which is where we come in.
How much does gas leak repair cost in Longmont?
It depends entirely on where the leak is. An appliance connector swap is usually a same-visit fix; a buried service line replacement is a bigger job. We quote in writing after locating the leak.