PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
OF WEST VIRGINIA
CHARLESTON

CASE NO. 24-0704-G-P

HOPE GAS, INC.
Petition to convert farm-tap customers to propane,
retain those customers as tariff customers, and for
approval of related cost recovery proposals.

NOTICE OF FILING and NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

On August 23, 2024, Hope Gas, Inc. (Hope), a public utility, filed with the Public Service Commission of West Virginia a Petition requesting authority to convert certain Hope farm-tap customers to propane (or electric, if desired by the customer), purchase and provide them with propane under Hope’s tariff, and recover the cost to supply propane and the expenses to convert customers to propane or electric service.

Hope proposes to convert approximately 479 residential farm-tap customers located on Hope-owned gathering system pipelines and 150 farm-tap customers served off of pipelines owned by Diversified Gas and Oil Company, Pillar Energy, Noumenon Corp., and Pine Mountain Inc. that include 1,068 miles of gas lines located in the counties of Barbour, Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Gilmer, Harrison, Jackson, Kanawha, Lewis, Marion, Mason, Monongalia, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Taylor, Tyler, Upshur, Wetzel, Wirt, and Wood. The pipelines and farm-tap locations are identified in the Petition, which is on file and available for public inspection at the Commission’s offices at 201 Brooks Street, Charleston, West Virginia, and on the Commission’s website, www.psc.state.wv.us.

Hope maintains that the pipelines can no longer provide safe, reliable, and economical gas service to the farm-tap customers or are in jeopardy of being unable to continue providing service. The pipelines are no longer necessary or useful to Hope’s provision of service to Hope customers and are uneconomical to continue to operate, maintain, or replace.

Hope estimates that the cost to operate and maintain the pipelines will far exceed $10 million per year, and replacing the lines with new plastic pipelines will cost over $600 million. Hope projects that if approved, the cost to convert customers to propane or electric service will be approximately $6 million, or $10,000 per customer, plus $2,000 for propane storage and house lines.

Hope does not seek a rate increase in this proceeding. Hope anticipates recovering the ongoing cost of supplying propane to the converted customers through Hope’s purchases gas adjustment (PGA) mechanism and PGA rates. Hope proposes to defer and recover the expenses incurred to convert customers to propane or electric service under W. Va. Code §24-3-7(d).

A hearing will be held by the Public Service Commission, which will begin at 9:30 a.m. on December 9, 2024, in the Howard M. Cunningham Hearing Room at the Commission’s offices at 201 Brooks Street, Charleston, West Virginia. The Commission may cancel the hearing for good cause shown. Interested persons intending to attend the hearing should monitor the web docket.

Anyone desiring to protest the relief requested by Hope may file a written protest or request to intervene in Case No. 24-0704-G-P, online, through the Commission website using the “Submit a Comment” link, by mail addressed to: Executive Secretary of the Public Service Commission at P.O. Box 812, 201 Brooks Street, Charleston, West Virginia 25323, or may appear at the hearing.

Anyone desiring to protest the relief requested by Hope may file a written protest or request to intervene that briefly states the reason for the protest or request to intervene. Requests to intervene must comply with the rules on intervention set forth in the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure and must be filed within ten (10) days following the date of this publication unless otherwise modified by Commission order. The Commission will receive public comments throughout the entirety of the proceeding. All written comments and requests to intervene should state the case name and number and be addressed to Karen Buckley, Executive Secretary, P.O. Box 812, Charleston, West Virginia 25323. Public comments may also be filed online at http://vvww.psc.state.wv.us/scripts/onlinecomments/default.cfm by clicking the “Formal Case” link.

HOPE GAS, INC.

ID: 835560