The West Virginia Public Service Commission has established a procedural schedule for Hope Gas' request to abandon portions of its natural gas gathering system, with an evidentiary hearing set for Sept. 10 and a final order targeted for Nov. 30, according to WV News.

Under the commission's schedule, Hope Gas must file direct testimony by Aug. 7, followed by testimony from intervenors on Aug. 24 and rebuttal testimony on Sept. 3. Initial briefs are due Oct. 9, with reply briefs scheduled for Oct. 23.

The case centers on Hope Gas' proposal to remove designated Category 1 Red Line gathering pipelines from service. The utility said the lines have no known connections to producing wells or producer-owned pipelines and do not serve any known farm-tap utility customers. However, the company identified 18 free-gas users along the affected system.

Hope Gas estimates it will cost between $10,000 and $25,000 per line to disconnect, cap and retire the facilities. The utility has proposed recovering those costs through its annual Pipeline Replacement and Expansion Program.

The commission also approved intervention requests from Diversified Gas & Oil Corp., Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage Inc., the Consumer Advocate Division, the Producers Issues Committee of the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia and an individual free-gas customer, according to WV News.

Separately, regulators formally dismissed Hope Gas' earlier pipeline abandonment case, which sought approval to retire approximately 1,068 miles of gathering pipeline. The company withdrew that application in March after deciding to divide the system into separate categories rather than pursue a single statewide abandonment request.

Hope Gas serves roughly 140,000 customers across 39 West Virginia counties and operates about 3,000 miles of field and gathering pipelines. The company has said portions of the system acquired from Equitrans L.P. and Dominion Gathering and Processing Inc. have become increasingly costly to maintain because of high operating expenses, significant capital requirements and elevated levels of unaccounted-for gas, as reported by WV News.