Gas company to credit customers

Another natural gas company has agreed to credit Georgia homeowners after a rate dispute. SCANA Energy is agreeing to give credits worth $1.25 million dollars – up to $25 for each customer. Georgia Natural Gas already agreed to credit customers. The settlement ends an investigation by the state Public Service Commission after customers complained they were misled about SCANA and GNG’s variable rate plan.

Harvesting gas from Georgia landfills

Georgia is set to get its second-ever plant to harvest methane gas from landfills. The Athens Banner-Herald reports the plant would be built in Winder near the Oak Grove and Speedway landfills. Winder would sell methane gas to the plant, which would harvest it to turn into natural gas to re-sell to city residents. The project is still in permitting phase but could be up and running by 2010. It’s projected to be able to heat 20,000 homes for the next 20 years. The only other plant like it in Georgia is set to open next year in DeKalb County.

Public comment on gas pipeline

This week Georgians will have a chance to tell state officials what they think of a proposed 50-mile natural gas pipeline. The Georgia Department of Transportation will co-host public information open houses with the company, Colonial Pipeline Company. Colonial wants to build a new pipeline from Austell, just west of Atlanta, to the Alabama line. It would go through Cobb, Paulding, Carroll and Haralson counties and run parallel to an existing pipeline.

Schedule of open houses:

August 14th @ the Hiram Community Center, 7 PM
August 15th @ the Bremen Senior Center, 7 PM

Written comments will be accepted through August 16, 2007. Written statements may be submitted at either meeting or may be mailed to: Sam Whitehead, Colonial Pipeline Company, P.O. Box 1624, Alpharetta, GA, 30009-9934.

Mineral rights at issue in Northwest Georgia

A natural gas discovery in Alabama has Northwest Georgia officials warning citizens to do their research before selling the mineral rights of their land.

Energy companies are trying to buy up land in Floyd and Chattooga counties following the opening of a natural gas field in northeast Alabama.

Officials urge anyone confronted with offers to buy mineral rights on their land to seek legal advice before signing any contract.

According to the Rome News-Tribune, the energy companies are offering as much as five-hundred dollars per acre for a five year lease of the mineral rights. But local officials warn that mineral rights apply to anything that is in the ground, not just pockets of natural gas.

Officials say property owners may also not realize that a five year lease could last a lot longer. Under the terms of some contracts, a natural gas find would automatically extend the lease until the well stops producing.

The state of Georgia does not regulate most shallow drilling.