MORGANTOWN — Morgantown-based Hope Gas announced on Tuesday that it has entered an agreement with Essential Utilities to purchase Peoples Gas WV.
Peoples is a Pennsylvania-based energy company serving 740,000 customers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky. Hope Gas said it is working to acquire the West Virginia portion of Peoples’ territory, covering 15 counties.
Hope said the transaction is subject to review and approval by the West Virginia Public Service Commission and is expected to close by the middle of 2023.
Hope Gas is a subsidiary of Hearthstone Holdings, which owns regulated natural gas and water distribution utilities in West Virginia, Arizona, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina and Ohio. In September 2022, Hearthstone finalized the acquisition of Hope Gas from Dominion Energy.
Hope is headquartered in 35,000 square feet of the WVU Innovation Corp.’s 55,000-square-foot office building — the office space of the former Mylan plant.
Hope said that upon closing, the resulting company will serve about 125,000 natural gas customers.
“We are excited to grow our business and continue to invest in building the future of West Virginia, its communities, and the people we serve,” said Morgan O’Brien, Hope Gas CEO. “We are working toward our vision to expand our footprint, including to underserved communities, and drive economic growth.
“We are working to provide and enhance West Virginia’s rich energy supply to help attract other businesses to the state,” he continued. “I look forward to welcoming the employees of Peoples Gas WV to our growing family at Hope Gas. They will be an integral part of continuing to provide the highest level of service to our customers.”
Hope already serves 14 of the 15 counties that Peoples also serves in West Virginia, including Monongalia, Marion and Taylor. Preston is in Hope’s area but not in Peoples’.
TWEET David Beard @dbeardtdp
EMAIL dbeard@dominionpost.com
