MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The state Public Service Commission has scheduled an evidentiary hearing for December 9 for the Hope Gas proposal to abandon distribution lines in 22 counties and convert more than 600 customers to electricity, or propane.
Hope Gas Senior Vice President of Gas Supply and Development Jeff Nehr said the initial filings have been made to retire the distribution lines and the propane conversion. That filing opens the door for questions from all parties, but Nehr customers will not be notified until the plans are approved by the Public Service Commission.
“So, that opens the door for parties to ask questions,” Nehr said Tuesday on MetroNews “Talkline.” “You have regulatory parties with questions; you have interveners that have questions; the public has questions and we’re addressing those questions one at a time.”
Nehr said the total area includes 3,000 miles of pipelines that serve 15,000 customers, and the area to be converted impacts 1,00 feet of pipeline and three percent of the customers.
West Virginia Farm Bureau Director of Governmental Affairs Dewayne O’Dell said they have not reviewed the initial filing but hope they plan to keep commitments made years ago when the distribution system was built.
“I believe they were, or should have known, the condition of the properties they were buying,” O’Dell said. “Therefore, we see that as whatever that commitment level was with past companies, they should continue to keep that commitment.”
The proposal would impact residential farm-tap customers in 22 counties, including 479 Hope Gas customers and 150 third-party customers of Diversified Gas and Oil Company, Pillar Energy, Noumenon Corp., and Pine Mountain Inc. The customers are in Barbour, Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Gilmer, Harrison, Jackson, Kanawha, Lewis, Marion, Mason, Monongalia, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Taylor, Tyler, Upshur, Wetzel, Wirt and Wood counties.
“Folks that receive gas as a result of drillers and get their gas for free will not be impacted,” Nehr said. “Those customers will move with the pipeline to a producer.”
Nehr said they will make every effort to convert those customers to propane, and if they would rather go electric, they will complete that conversion for the customer.
“We want to make sure everyone has heat for their homes in the wintertime; they have energy for their homes—we’re not trying to take anything away from anyone,” Nehr said. “But we do want to open it up for options as we convert them.”
The PSC has granted petitions to intervene from the Consumer Advocate Division, Diversified Gas and Oil Company, and the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia.
An evidentiary hearing has been set for Dec. 9.