Tag: natural gas

Public Utility Property Values in West Virginia Increase

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.

Proposed West Virginia – Virginia Natural Gas Pipeline Files

Energy companies have formally filed with federal regulators to build a 300-mile natural gas pipeline from West Virginia through southern Virginia.

Mountain Valley Pipeline announced Friday it applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build the pipeline from Wetzel County, West Virginia, to Pittsylvania County, located in Southside Virginia.

The pipeline would deliver natural gas from so-called fracked drilling fields in the rich Marcellus and Utica shale deposits.

The joint venture between EQT Midstream Partners and other energy companies is proposing a 2016 construction start with the pipeline delivering energy by late 2018.

The pipeline has encountered resistance along is proposed route.

Dominion Resources has already filed with FERC to build a proposed pipeline that would also run from West Virginia to Virginia.

1 Injured in W.Va. Gas Explosion

At least one person was injured in West Virginia after a gas line exploded near Winfield.

The explosion occurred Monday afternoon.

 
West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety spokesman Lawrence Messina says initial reports indicate the explosion may have been caused when a piece of equipment started up near a 4-inch gas line that was leaking. Messina says no homes in the area were affected.

 
Messina says initial reports say one man was taken to a hospital’s burn unit. 

Royalty Group to Hold Meetings about Forced Pooling Bill

The West Virginia Royalty Owner’s Association will begin a round of public meetings across the state next week to talk about a piece of controversial legislation.

The meetings held across West Virginia will focus on forced pooling or lease unitization. It’s a practice in the natural gas industry where gas companies parcel of groups of land in an attempt to drill a well.

Under current state law, if a royalty owner refuses to sell their rights to the company, it can’t drill the gas well, but lawmakers attempted to change that during the last legislative session. 

Republican leaders attempted to pass a bill that said if 80 percent of the royalty owners agreed to the well, than the other 20 percent would be forced to sell.

The WVROA will be taking questions about the legislation that is expected to be introduced again in 2016. They’ll hold seven meetings before the end of August. All meetings begin at 6 p.m.:

August 10- Charleston Moose Lodge, Charleston

August 13- Upshur County Moose Lodge, Buckhannon

August 17- Marshall County American Legion, Cameron

August 20- Wood County Moose Lodge, Parkersburg

August 24- Fairmont Middletown Mall, Fairmont

August 27- Glenville Inn, Glenville

August 31- Hancock VFW, New Cumberland

Public Service Commission Final Public Hearing on Rate Increase

The final two public comment hearings on Mountaineer Gas’ proposed rate increase of more than $12.2 million will be held Tuesday in Charleston.

The first hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. the second for 6 p.m. at the West Virginia Public Service Commission’s Office on Brooks Street.

Mountaineer Gas filed the rate increase proposal with the Public Service Commission in January. If approved, residential customers would see an increase on their gas bill of about 5 percent. Commercial customers would see about a 4 percent increase.

Public comment hearings on the increases were also held in Beckley, Huntington and Wheeling last month.

After the Charleston public meeting, the PSC will hold evidentiary hearings Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to decide on the increase.

The commission must file its final opinion by October 30.

Pipeline Fire at Drilling Pad in Tyler County Investigated

State regulators are investigating a pipeline fire at a drilling pad in Tyler County.The fire occurred early Friday at Jay Bee Oil & Gas' Gorby Marcellus…

State regulators are investigating a pipeline fire at a drilling pad in Tyler County.

The fire occurred early Friday at Jay Bee Oil & Gas’ Gorby Marcellus Shale drilling pad in the Big Run area.

West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Jake Glance says there was a rupture in the natural gas pipeline on the pad. He tells The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register that the fire burned for about an hour before it was extinguished.

No injuries were reported.

The newspaper says the fire’s flame could be seen for several miles.

The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined.

Glance says the DEP and the company are investigating.

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