Jessica Patterson and Sam DeCoste
Related Video: Mountaineer Gas Company reveals timeline of start to West Side natural gas outage
CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – An investigation into West Virginia American Water and Mountaineer Gas after the West Side gas crisis has now been split into two separate cases, according to the Public Service Commission of West Virginia.
According to the PSC, the general investigation into what happened to cause the widespread gas outage that lasted for more than three weeks was launched on Nov. 16, 2023. Today, Friday, Jan. 26, that case was dismissed with a new order creating a new case for each company. The PSC says it has denied all pending discovery motions in the original case and will not allow discover between the companies in the new cases.
PSC officials say there are multiple reasons for the split. Prominently, the two companies are now in civil litigation with one another over the gas crisis and the commission says it will not “play the role of a court to determine liability between the two.”
The PSC also says it has received a “significant number” of informal customer complaints against both companies, all of which “request some sort of partial or complete relief from paying those utility services during the outages.”
Officials with the PSC say their goal now is to “focus on reviewing maintenance practices and whether each utility acted reasonably and had procedures in place during and following the outage.”
The outage began on Nov. 10, when a water main break flooded 46 miles of gas line on Charleston’s West Side. After the incident, customers on Charleston’s West Side were without both gas and water, but water services were restored shortly after.
While water services were restored, the gas lines had to be flushed, dried and restored. The process left thousands of people on Charleston’s West Side without natural gas services throughout the Thanksgiving holiday, leaving some without heat, hot water and a way to cook a meal.
According to Mountaineer Gas Company’s report to the PSC, crews discovered and removed several gas meters gushed by water. They eventually found the location of the primary leak at the intersections of Madison and Florida Streets. Upon arriving, they discovered one of their steel gas lines was burst by a water jet stream.
The gas company goes on to say that they were unable to clean their lines until the water was shut off. According to their report, gas company crews were on standby for about eleven hours between 6 p.m. and 5 a.m. until West Virginia American Water located the right water valve.
The Public Service Commission also requested documents from West Virginia American Water in the initial investigation case, specifically communications and data from and regarding the night of the water line leak. The water company rejected that request, claiming their requests are “unduly burdensome.” They went on to claim that they are being targeted more than Mountaineer Gas.
On Thursday, the Consumer Advocate Division also asked the Public Service Commission of West Virginia’s staff to compel West Virginia American Water to fully cooperate while they investigate the natural gas crisis on Charleston’s West Side.
Read More: Public Service Commission splits gas, water companies’ investigation into two