About 75 residents turn out for a community meeting with National Grid, at the West Broadway Neighborhood Association headquarters last night, over the placement of new gas meters on the front of their houses.

The Providence Journal / Kris Craig

PROVIDENCE — National Grid’s top officers in Rhode Island stood in front of a crowd of 75 Federal Hill residents last night and apologized for poor communication and the improper actions of several contractors during a project to install high-pressure gas lines and move gas meters from the basements to the outside of 250 houses in the Knight Street area.

“Our communications on this project were not up to standards. We readily admit that. We recognize that. We’ve learned from that,” said Steve Hall, National Grid’s regional executive for Rhode Island.

Hoping to end a dispute that has led to vocal confrontations between residents and National Grid contractors, the company promised to meet with homeowners individually before work starts up again, and said it will offer owners of historic houses the option to keep their meters in their basements.

The residents weren’t satisfied, however, and no resolution has been reached. A chorus of residents said they want a uniform policy that will apply to the entire area, whether a house is historic or not.

“This should be blanket, for everybody, it shouldn’t just be for those in historic homes,” said Jessica Jennings, a Knight Street resident who has led the opposition to the meter moves. “There are many people who fall outside the historic district, and they have every right to have the same rights.”

If some homeowners ask for the waiver, and not others, residents argue, having gas meters on the front of some houses will still bring down the overall aesthetic and dollar value of the neighborhood.

“We’re looking for a policy that embraces everybody. That’s what we’re looking to do,” said Councilman John J. Lombardi, who represents the neighborhood and has organized several meetings between National Grid and the residents.

And at the same time, which houses count as historic is not entirely clear — and that definition makes all the difference.

The company says it will offer the waiver to houses listed on the federal National Register of Historic Places, which would include only a few houses in the area.

“If you’re not on the historic register, we have to put the meter on the outside,” Hall said of the waiver offer. “It does not cover the whole district. It covers homes that are on the National Register.”

State and city preservation officials, however, said that historic should mean all the houses in the area, which is considered historic as part of the Broadway-Armory National Historic District.

That important distinction has not been worked out.

The meeting at the West Broadway Neighborhood Association headquarters last night is the latest chapter in an ongoing dispute between residents in the Knight Street area and National Grid that began when the gas company first disclosed in July that it was planning to upgrade the gas service in the area from low-pressure, 1800s gas pipes to 11,000 feet of modern, high-pressure lines.

For reasons of safety and ease of maintenance and inspection, National Grid wants to move the meters outside the houses, in some cases to the fronts of the houses when there is limited room on the side.

The residents said they were not properly informed of the work, and were intimidated by National Grid contractors who told them they had no say in where the meters would go, and indiscriminately tore up gardens and lawns without talking to the homeowners.

“Many people have described it as corporate bullying,” Jennings said.

In front of roughly 75 residents last night, National Grid apologized, and said that representatives will be sure to speak to every resident before they go any further with the project. They also said that they now recognize how strongly residents oppose having meters on the front of their houses, and the company will do everything it can to place meters on the side or back if residents ask for that.

“We heard the front-of-the-house issue loud and clear. It resonates with us. We did not fully understand it before. We understand it now,” said John Higgins, director of operations and construction for National Grid in the area.

Higgins said that the company did try to talk to residents before it started the project, though he acknowledged that their efforts were insufficient.

“While we got to most of you, there were some of you we did not get to,” Higgins said, estimating that they talked to 80 percent of homeowners before work started.

Jennings said she strongly doubted that those figures were accurate.

“No one that I know, in my vicinity, received notice … that this work was going to include taking meters out of homes and placing them on the exterior,” Jennings said.

Another meeting on the issue is scheduled for next month. In the meantime, city and state officials, residents, historic preservationists and National Grid will meet in a small group to try and hammer out the particulars.

Residents and city officials expect that the result of this dispute could have implications statewide.

National Grid has submitted long-term plans to the Public Utilities Commission that include laying 25 miles more of high-pressure lines statewide next year, and more after that.

“We want to set up a statewide system so that the folks in Newport and the folks in Wickford and the folks in the Blackstone Valley don’t have to go through what you’re going through,” state Sen. Paul Jabour told the audience last night.

dbarbari@projo.com