Central Indiana mailboxes may smell like rotten eggs soon. Here's why

Citizens Energy customers should be on the lookout for a seasonal greeting from the gas and water utility this winter — with a card that is more fetid than festive.

The utility is providing a scratch-and-sniff experience that reeks of rotten eggs and aims to teach customers what a gas leak smells like. Citizens scented the cards with mercaptan , the substance added to gas so potential leaks can be detected by smell.

The gas Citizens Energy serves customers, typically methane, is naturally odorless so the company adds mercaptan, which smells like sulfur or rotten eggs, to serve as a sentinel in case there's a gas leak.

“Natural gas leaks can be dangerous if they are ignored, but this card includes the critical information for identifying and responding to natural gas leaks,” J.P. Ghio