West Virginia’s natural gas counties are the winners and coalfield counties are the losers in the state’s latest assessment of the value of properties owned by public utilities.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail says a report presented to the Board of Public Works on Tuesday shows utility property values increased by 36 percent in Doddridge County in the past year. Ritchie and Tyler counties each saw a 16 percent increase, while property values in Taylor County rose by 9 percent.
In the southern coalfields, utility property values fell by 10 percent in Boone County, 8 percent in McDowell County and 7 percent in both Logan and Wyoming counties.
Statewide, the assessed value of utility properties rose by $530 million to more than $10 billion.