By Michael P. Walsh
Special to the Voice
Avangrid Inc., the parent company of Southern Connecticut Gas, is in the process of selling its 104,000-square-foot SCG headquarters at 60 Marsh Hill Road in Orange and relocating employees and operations to new and existing facilities in the area, including West Haven.
“Employees now working at SCG’s facility will be moving to facilities with generally superior amenities, including a new operations and office facility on Frontage Road in West Haven and satellite field locations in the Bridgeport and North Haven areas,” according to a company letter by Frank Reynolds, the president and CEO of UIL Holdings Corp.
UIL is the Avangrid subsidiary that oversees its natural gas and electric companies in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Mayor Nancy R. Rossi welcomed the “great news.”
“West Haven is fortunate to be the beneficiary of Avangrid’s relocation plan,” Rossi said. “Avangrid is well known for their efforts to build and maintain a diverse workforce, so they are a good fit for our city.
“West Haven professionals who are thinking about new employment possibilities would be well served by taking a look at the various job offerings now open at SCG. And I encourage our college students and recent college graduates to consider the internship opportunities that Avangrid offers.”
According to city officials, SCG has occupied a portion of the former Sears Outlet at 190 Frontage Road since January 2020, when a lease was signed by Avangrid.
The Frontage Road space, near the West Haven train station, houses meter-reading trucks and other equipment, according to a SCG spokesman.
Avangrid shares space in the building with American Freight, which merged with Sears Outlet in 2020.
The SCG relocation will consist of three phases, with the latter two benefiting West Haven and occurring by mid-2022.
Reynolds said phase two will include relocating about 130 SCG field operations personnel to the new locations on Frontage Road and in the Bridgeport and North Haven areas. The final phase will include relocating about 85 SCG office employees to the new office space on Frontage Road, he said.
Reynolds said the SCG building sale and relocation is expected to significantly reduce operating costs while passing savings on to customers.
“A new, decentralized operations model will allow us to reduce overall service travel and improve response times,” Reynolds said. “Reducing travel will also help us deliver on our commitment to the environment by lowering vehicle emissions and reducing our carbon footprint.”