Mar 6, 2014 4 min read

Mountain Energy Ltd.’s application with the state Public Utility Commission to abandon natural gas services to its 86 remaining customers near Aleppo is continuing through the PUC process despite a break-in at the company’s offices last month that resulted in the theft or destruction of company records.

The company, in a letter to the PUC in regard to a request for information, said it believed the Feb. 6 break-in was “an effort to either obtain or destroy records relevant to the pending PUC proceeding.”

Bradley Bledsoe, company vice president, said Wednesday, however, the company was able to reconstruct records requested by PUC from paper files and submitted the requested information to the agency.

No personal information that could be used for identity theft was compromised, though customers were informed of incident, Bledsoe said.

Mountain Energy filed a petition with the PUC Dec. 9 seeking approval to abandon service to all 86 of its remaining customers. The company has been in the process of abandoning the system since 2007 and, previously with PUC approval, abandoned 84 customers.

Company officials have explained the wells from which the company’s gas supplies are drawn are old and declining in production and its distribution lines are in poor condition.

The company sold more than 170 shallow wells, gas leases and gathering lines to Leatherwood Inc., a Consol Energy subsidiary, between 2006 and 2009. Consol planned to mine through the wells and needed to plug many of them to ensure safe mining conditions, the company said.

The assets were sold, however, without the required PUC approval, and Mountain Energy is now seeking that approval in conjunction with its abandonment application.

In a letter dated Jan. 10, the PUC requested information on the assets sold to Leatherwood, including what Mountain Energy was paid and if any money was received from Leatherwood to help convert customers to other fuel sources.

The letter also asked it to list alternative fuel sources available to customers and estimate conversion costs, detail its discussion with other natural gas companies to acquire the system; and provide customer usage information and the formula it is using to determine how much each customer would receive to convert to another fuel source.

The company responded with a letter dated Feb. 14 stating its business records were damaged or destroyed during a break-in Feb. 6. The break-in was reported to state police.

The letter states Mountain Energy believes the incident was an effort to obtain or destroy records relevant to the PUC proceeding. It noted records and computers were stolen, damaged or destroyed, but no attempt was made to access computer data, to steal or destroy cash or checks or non-computer office equipment.

Bledsoe also said it was apparent that whoever broke into the office on Aleppo Road knew the office layout and was purposely able to avoid the security cameras. A window had been broken to gain entry to the building, he said.

Paper records were used to gather the information requested by the PUC, he said. Though it was “not an ideal scenario,” the company was able to reconstruct the records and submit them to the PUC, he said.

A spokeswoman for the PUC, Jennifer Kocher, said Thursday that the requested information has been received from the company and the case is continuing through the PUC process.

A number of residents have filed statements opposing the company’s plan. In addition, the Office of Consumer Advocate, which represents the interests of consumers before the PUC, has intervened in the case.

The abandonment application has been assigned to a PUC administrative law judge, who will schedule hearings on the application, Kocher said. The case involving the transfer of assets remains under review with the PUC’s Bureau of Technical Utility Services.

At a meeting on the company plans held by the township in December, residents wanted to know why service was being terminated and why they were being offered so little to connect to another system or to convert to another fuel to heat their homes.

In its PUC application, the company said it converted customers in the past to alternate fuels based on the customer’s choice. This approach, however, was financially burdensome, it said. Requiring it to convert the remaining customers to a requested alternative fuel could result in bankruptcy, it said.