With the Wendover Gas buy out dead, what is the future for propane users in Wendover?
Pretty much the same as the past said Wendover Gas Trustee Steve Shute.
“We are working on a filing to the Nevada PUC (Public Utilities Commission) right now,” he said. “Businesses, schools and residents will see no interruption in their services and perhaps they may not even see tanks replace piped in gas.”
According to Shute another company may be interested in taking over Wendover Gas pipe system if that take over does not come with the company’s current debt load.
in addition to the real possibility that the pipe system will not become moribund Shute added that a natural gas pipeline far from being off the table could be very much alive and patterned on the local electric company.
“I think creating a co-op of users something like WREC is an extremely interesting possibility,” he added.
There are certain similarities between the energy situation of that created WREC and other rural electric cooperatives and natural gas today.
More than half a century ago rural America was served erratically at best by large Electric Utilities which had little incentive to provide power over large areas to relatively few customers.
Backed by the federal government rural co-ops were created and have become glowing examples how nonprofit companies can succeed.
“Under the right circumstances I could see a cooperative forming and financing the the feeder line to the Ruby Pipeline or perhaps extending a current or soon to be built feeder line services a mine.” Shute added. “Perhaps like WREC it would be owned by those it served.”
There are already a handful of natural as co-ops operating in the west some as part of an electric company others independent.