dbeard@dominionpost.com
MORGANTOWN – Hope Gas is at odds with Public Service Commission staff and the Consumer Advocate Division about how fast its plan to abandon its Red Lines and convert up to 629 farm tap customers in 22 counties to propane or electricity should unfold.
Hope has its eye on a mid-February evidentiary hearing that would precede a PSC order. PSC staff, with CAD agreement, is looking at mid-August.
CAD cites public input gathered at three recent town halls to support the longer timeline.
“These were productive exercises which the CAD frankly believes that Hope could have and should have undertaken with each and every affected customer before filing the petition to convert the customer’s service to propane.” it said. “The actual number of customers who would potentially need to be converted to propane could be significantly reduced. It was also clear that, by a large margin, the customers who were currently receiving natural gas service were satisfied with the reliability of their gas service, and would prefer to continue to receive natural gas service if at all possible.”
The majority of attendees opposed conversion, CAD said, and had questions about propane safety and the effects on their property values.
Hope Gas is proposing to abandon in place or transfer to other companies the Red Lines – that it previously acquired from Equitrans and Dominion Gathering and Processing. Hope bought about 3,000 miles of pipeline, it said, with about 14,800 farm-tap customers.
Hope said some of those lines – about 1,068 miles – are no longer necessary or useful, and that providing safe, reliable, economic service to the farm-tap customers along those lines is in jeopardy because existing service “is either unsafe, unreliable, uneconomical, or any combination of the three.”
CAD noted that along with serving farm tap customers, the lines in question are also used by producers to collect and transport gas to market and to other customers, including free gas customers.
The town halls were held in Clarksburg, with about 80 attending; Weston, with 50-60 attending; and Grantsville, with about 85 attending, CAD said.
Most were hearing about Hope’s plan for the first time, CAD said, and wanted more access to maps. No maps were presented but Hope helped those who were interested to pull up their service locations on an interactive map.
CAD said Hope is willing to conduct more meetings with individual customers, but not until after PSC approves its plan. “The CAD is of the opinion that this approach would be backward, and does not adequately protect the customer’s rights. … The CAD is of the opinion that the interests of all parties would be better served if the normal preliminary conversations between the utilities, producer and pipeline customers had already occurred before the petition was even filed for the Commission’s review and approval.”
PSC staff, in its proposed timeline, calls for Hope to submit by Friday a proposal that identifies 10% of the total proposed Red Line mileage for a pilot project. By Feb. 20, identify lines that have other nearby natural gas sources in order to avoid converting customers to propane.
By March 20, physically visit each customer home to determine if propane conversion is possible. The evidentiary hearing would be held Aug. 13-14.
CAD observed that Hope doesn’t appear to oppose a pilot project, but still wants the review process to proceed on a relatively fast track.
“The CAD supports the commission staff’s approach because it provides the opportunity for additional and timely participation and input from the affected customers and producers, without unduly and unnecessarily delaying the identification and abandonment of lines which truly serve no useful purpose.”
The Gas & Oil Association of West Virginia is also involved in the case and supports the extended timeline.
“These are novel, complex, and high consequential cases,” Go-WV said. “For the fourth time, Hope has proposed a highly compressed procedural schedule that only it believes is adequate to address these complex, novel, and consequential issues. The public interest requires more time and more notice for the affected public to meaningfully participate, gain command of the complex factual background, and become involved to craft solutions which best advance the public interest in this state.”
Hope told the PSC it intends to file on or around Dec. 20 additional testimony proposing some additional detailed processes and procedures.
But it regards the staff timeline as unreasonable. Delay benefits certain producers along the Red Lines, but not Hope’s customers, “who must bear the ongoing and increasing costs to operate, maintain, and – the longer abandonment is delayed – costs to replace Red Lines, if necessary, to maintain safe and reliable service to any affected farm-tap customers.”
Hope noted that as a result of the town hall meetings, it has committed to further meetings requested by certain county commissions, and to establishing a dedicated team to respond to questions coming in by phone and email.
The PSC, Hope said, could grant Hope’s request subject to conditions Hope will propose in its Dec. 20 filing.
