STAND BACK AS YOUR NATURAL GAS BILL SKYROCKETS - Dominion-Hope Asking For 53% Increase

(03/08/2001)

By Bob Weaver The Public Service Commission freeze is ending and Dominion Hope, the old Hope Gas Company which sold its assets, is asking for a whopping 53% natural gas increase for their 115,000 customers in West Virginia. Billy Jack Gregg, head of the Consumer Advocate Division for the PSC said "It is pretty astounding." The increases will dramatically affect heating costs in poor West Virginia counties where much of the gas has been produced during the past 100 years. While public hearings will be held this summer, the new rates will likely become effective on January 1, 2002. Two-thirds of the $56 million being asked would go for the costs of natural gas, which have doubled in the past three years. Mountaineer Gas, operating as Allegheny Power, has asked for a 39% increase and other suppliers will likely follow suit. The PSC has expressed concerns that Dominion/Hope have not tried to control operational costs.

Hur Herald ®from Sunny Cal The information on these pages, to the extent the law allows, remains the exclusive property of Bob Weaver and Dianne Weaver The Hur Herald. All information may be freely used but must not be sold or used in any type of commercial endeavor, or used on any web site without the express permission of the owners ©Bob and Dianne Weaver, The Hur Herald, 1999, 2000, 2001