Charleston and Huntington-Ashland winter stress record. October 2026

Charleston and Huntington-Ashland winter stress record: neither metro is rated

Neither metro has a public supply-versus-demand balance, so neither is rated. Columbia's critical-day notices for the shared Operating Area 3 cover 7, 1 and 0 gas days in winters 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 and do not say who was affected.

0 daysCritical-notice days in winter 2025-26, Charleston-Huntington area (Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, notices page, accessed October 27, 2026)
1 dayDays in winter 2024-25 when Columbia called critical days for the Charleston-Huntington area (Notice 25924835, January 15, 2025)
7 daysDays in winter 2023-24 when Columbia called critical days for the Charleston-Huntington area (Notice 25891211, January 12, 2024)
Not ratedNeither metro has a public supply-versus-demand balance in the records reviewed

By Sam Strong, Vice President of Business Development, Discovery Energy. Technical review by Tara Dugger, Chief Operating Officer. Published .

Metro used: two metropolitan statistical areas, as defined by the federal government in Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 23-01 (July 21, 2023): Charleston, West Virginia, and Huntington-Ashland, West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. They share one pipeline record, Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC ("Columbia") Operating Area 3, and the same utility, Mountaineer Gas Company ("Mountaineer"), serves both on the West Virginia side, so they share this page, and each has its own section and map. Columbia Gas of Kentucky, Inc. ("Columbia Gas of Kentucky") serves the Kentucky side of Huntington-Ashland.1

Key takeaways

  • Mountaineer and Columbia Gas of Kentucky publish tariff and Choice program rules, but we found no current-year supply-versus-demand balance, including in a 2024 Kentucky rate case.4
  • Columbia named Operating Area 3 only when it called critical days for all of its operating areas, which happened in two of the last three winters.2
  • At Leach in market area 19, no non-firm (interruptible or secondary) capacity was offered on 135 of 146 winter 2025-26 gas days checked, separate from critical days.5
  • Winter 2025-26 was the coldest of the three at both airport weather stations: 100.1% of the 1991-2020 normal at Charleston and 94.4% at Huntington.6
  • Kentucky's Choice program assigns Columbia Gas of Kentucky's firm capacity to marketers pro rata (in proportion), so a marketer's share is an assignment and not a shortfall.3
  • The public record reviewed does not show either utility's design-day figures (the coldest day each system plans for), Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage supply, or Mountaineer's curtailment rules.7

Why these two metros are not rated

Neither metro gets a rating because no public source shows a supply-versus-demand balance for a current year, and we rate a metro only when one does. Neither Mountaineer nor Columbia Gas of Kentucky publishes one in the public records reviewed; their tariffs and Choice documents describe how capacity is assigned and how service is restricted, not how supply compares with a design day.

A 2024 Kentucky Public Service Commission rate case for Columbia Gas of Kentucky was read, and it holds no numeric design-day or supply figure.27 If either utility states its design day margin in writing, or a filing gives one, its metro can be rated at the next update.4

Who serves each metro?

Charleston is served by Mountaineer. Huntington-Ashland is served by Mountaineer (West Virginia) and Columbia Gas of Kentucky (Kentucky).

Columbia's notices name its own areas, not utilities, so we matched each metro to Columbia's areas using Columbia's area descriptions and its locations report.5 In both cases the match comes straight from Columbia delivery points named for those utilities.

Both metros fall in the Charleston-Huntington area, which this page also calls Operating Area 3 and which Columbia's descriptions call the West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky operating area. That area consists of the Portsmouth, Lancer, Lewisburg, KY/WV Misc and Clendenin market areas.

The counts on this page cover one pipeline, Columbia. Mountaineer also buys gas from Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage, whose postings were not reached, so the counts describe only part of its supply and may understate or overstate its exposure.7

The escalation ladders: pipeline and utility

Columbia's alerts escalate in steps, and the "critical days" counted on this page are the last step. The steps are operational alerts, pre-operational flow order warnings, flow orders for receipt points, and then transport critical days for named operating areas. Each critical day carries a tariff penalty for takes above firm entitlement.5

Columbia Gas of Kentucky's tariff, in sheets dated 1993 and 1994 that may be superseded, says its primary obligation is to its domestic markets. Its supply-deficiency curtailment order, the order in which service is cut when supply falls short, begins with boiler fuel loads, caps curtailment of commercial loads at 40% in the winter period and ends with residential loads and human needs. A penalty of $10.00 per Mcf (thousand cubic feet) applies above 103 percent of authorized monthly volumes.

Its Choice manual adds a $25.00 per Dth (dekatherm, a unit of gas energy) penalty on operational flow order days, when the pipeline has issued an order to control flows on its system. The manual also sets a marketer's daily delivery requirement by dividing an annual sum by 365, which the company may reduce in October, November and April. The tariff text searched has no operational flow order or critical day levels.3

Mountaineer's transportation tariff has no numbered priority ladder in the sheets read. It allows interruptible service to be restricted up to 100% on notice of generally 24 hours, sets a $10 per Mcf penalty above 103 percent on a curtailment day, lets the company freeze banks for reasons arising from actual system restrictions, and has interruptible customers agree to sell their supply to the company in a shortage. This page describes what the tariff allows; it does not show that any penalty was charged.8

Winter by winter: distinct critical-day events in Operating Area 3

Operating Area 3 had critical days in the winters of 2023-24 and 2024-25 and none in 2025-26. A winter is 1 November to 31 March. An event is one unbroken run of transport critical days for the operating area; the day it is lifted is not part of the run. Storage critical days carry the same dates and are treated as the same events. Routine operational alerts and capacity postings do not make events.

The counts are the same for both metros, because this operating area covers both. The table also gives the start and lift dates of each episode of transport critical days that named the West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky operating area. Start and lift are the first and last gas days of the episode for the area.9

Winter Distinct events Gas days Episode start Lift effective Notice
2023-24 1 7 2024-01-15 2024-01-22 Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, Capacity Constraint Notice 25891211, January 12, 2024
2024-25 1 1 2025-01-15 2025-01-16 Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, Capacity Constraint Notice 25924835, January 15, 2025
2025-26 0 0 none none Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, critical notices posting page, TC eConnects, accessed October 27, 2026 (no notice for the area in the winter)

Critical-day events and gas days for the Charleston-Huntington area, by winter.26

Documented local constraints

On cold days Columbia often had no non-firm capacity to offer at some points. Its daily capacity postings show whether non-firm service was available through named internal constraints; zero means none was offered through that point that gas day. Zero occurred on days with no critical day, so it is a cold-season condition, not the same measure as a critical day.10

Constraint point (market area) Type Winter 2023-24: days with none available Winter 2024-25: days with none available Winter 2025-26: days with none available Summer: days with none available
Lanham East (Clendenin market area) delivery 5 of 151 14 of 151 0 of 146 219 of 269
Lanham PKA (Clendenin market area) delivery 5 of 151 14 of 151 0 of 146 219 of 269
Leach (Clendenin market area) delivery 121 of 151 138 of 151 135 of 146 23 of 262
KA High (Clendenin market area) receipt 0 of 151 20 of 151 0 of 146 91 of 269
Boldman (Lancer market area) receipt 0 of 151 0 of 151 0 of 146 38 of 269
KA Low (Lancer market area) receipt 0 of 151 20 of 151 0 of 146 223 of 248
Line P North (Lancer market area) receipt 0 of 151 20 of 151 0 of 146 135 of 269

Days with no non-firm capacity available at seven Columbia constraint points, out of the gas days checked, by winter and summer.26

Weather against normal

Operating Area 3 had critical days in the two milder winters (Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, Capacity Constraint Notice 25924835, January 15, 2025) and none in the coldest, because Columbia included it only when it called all operating areas. Three winters are not enough to separate weather from how Columbia chose to use critical days.12

Station 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26
Charleston WV (Yeager Airport) 87.2% of normal 96.4% of normal 100.1% of normal
Huntington (Tri-State Airport) 82.5% of normal 91.3% of normal 94.4% of normal

Heating degree days (a measure of how cold the weather was) for November to March, as a share of the 1991-2020 normal, at the two airport weather stations.26

NOAA's three-month temperature outlook for each metro, issued October 15, 2026, is given in the section for that metro below.13

Firm contract end dates, and what they do not show

A contract's end date is not the end of service. Columbia's own capacity report assumes all right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) rights are exercised indefinitely, so a contract with that right may be renewed. Columbia's Index of Customers lists each shipper's firm contracts with end dates; the table sums transport contracts that had not passed their primary term on October 27, 2026, by the year the term ends. It does not measure any utility's total firm supply: Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage capacity, storage deliverability and agent-held contracts are not in it.11

The contracts serve each utility's entire system, not only these metros. The list was read by software and was not checked by hand.

Shipper Live transport contracts (Dth per day) Ending 2026 or 2027 Ending 2028 to 2030 Ending 2031 or later Latest end Past primary term (may still run)
Mountaineer Gas 345,589 0 4,535 341,054 2045-07-31 0
Columbia Gas of Kentucky 232,904 0 232,904 0 2030-03-31 0

Firm transport contracts on Columbia held by each shipper, in Dth per day, by the year the primary term ends.26

New large gas loads and supply

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) monthly generator inventory (September 2026 release) lists no planned or canceled gas-fired unit in the counties of either metro.15 State siting portals were not reached, so a large new gas load that does not appear in the EIA inventory is not ruled out.16

Data centers: As of October 28, 2026, we found no gas data center load on Mountaineer Gas's or Columbia Gas of Kentucky's system in the official records we searched; the West Virginia commission's docket search works only in a browser, so it was not read.17 West Virginia's certified microgrid program requires that more than 70% of the electricity generated within a district be consumed by data centers, and no certified district in either metro appears on its page.18

Nearby: Mountaineer's one verified pipeline expansion, the Columbia Eastern Panhandle Expansion, was designed to meet Mountaineer's request for 47,500 Dth per day.28 It serves Morgan County, West Virginia, which is not part of either metro, so it does not change the record for either one.

Policy context

No West Virginia or Kentucky policy, order or rule specific to natural gas service for large new loads was found in the official sources reviewed, so none is described here. The West Virginia Public Service Commission's case search is not open to automated access, and no Mountaineer design-day filing was reachable.7

Charleston

Pipelines supplying the Charleston area N Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Charleston Charleston Boone County Boone County Clay County Clay County Kanawha Co. Kanawha Co. Parkersburg Parkersburg Ashland Ashland I-64 I-77 I-77 I-79 US-50 Greenbrier County Greenbrier County Pike Co. Pike Co. Pipelines supplying the Charleston area Other gas pipelines Highways Charleston metro area (3 counties) County lines Cities and towns
Figure 1. Major natural gas pipelines serving Charleston. Simplified, not to scale. Discovery Energy illustration from EIA and U.S. Census data. Counties, places, state outline and population: U.S. Census Bureau. Coastline, lakes and highways: Natural Earth (public domain).

Columbia lists a delivery point named for Mountaineer in market area 19 (Clendenin), in the operating area for both metros, so we matched Charleston to that area.14 Charleston's Columbia critical-day record is the shared record in the winter table above.19

In market area 19, Leach (a delivery constraint) had no non-firm capacity available on most winter days, and Lanham (also a delivery constraint) had none on few winter days.20 The receipt constraint KA High was open on nearly all winter days.

The public record also does not show Mountaineer's design-day demand and firm supply, or its curtailment rules (Section 10 of its tariff is not on its public site).7

For Charleston, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center outlook issued October 15, 2026 leans above normal for both November to January and December to February, for a three-month average temperature rather than specific days or an outage.21

Huntington-Ashland

Pipelines supplying the Huntington-Ashland area N Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Gas Transmission Huntington Huntington Cabell Co. Cabell Co. Carter County Carter County Greenup Co. Greenup Co. Lawrence County Lawrence County Putnam County Putnam County Middletown Middletown Charleston Charleston Richmond Richmond Athens Athens Chillicothe Chillicothe I-64 I-64 I-77 I-75 I-75 US-35 I-79 I-71 I-275 Pipelines supplying the Huntington-Ashland area Other gas pipelines Highways Huntington-Ashland metro area (8 counties) County lines Cities and towns
Figure 2. Major natural gas pipelines serving Huntington-Ashland. Simplified, not to scale. Discovery Energy illustration from EIA and U.S. Census data. Counties, places, state outline and population: U.S. Census Bureau. Coastline, lakes and highways: Natural Earth (public domain).

Columbia lists delivery points named for Mountaineer and for Columbia Gas of Kentucky in both market area 15 (Portsmouth) and market area 16 (Lancer), both in the operating area for the two metros, so we matched Huntington-Ashland to both.20 Its Columbia critical-day record is the shared record in the winter table above.22

Kentucky's Choice program assigns Columbia Gas of Kentucky's firm capacity to marketers pro rata, so a marketer's share in that program is a regulatory assignment and not a shortfall.8 Receipt constraints on the supply side of market area 16 (Boldman, KA Low and Line P North) were open on nearly all winter days.22

The public record doesn't show a design-day demand or firm supply total for Columbia Gas of Kentucky or Mountaineer for a current year.7 It also doesn't show which utility serves the Ohio part of the metro (Lawrence County, Ohio); none was identified in the records reviewed. It shows no Tennessee Gas Pipeline or Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage record.

For Huntington-Ashland, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center outlook issued October 15, 2026 leans above normal for both November to January and December to February, for a three-month average temperature rather than specific days or an outage.23

What's new (as of October 28, 2026)

On July 22, 2026, the West Virginia Division of Air Quality received a construction permit application for the Monarch Cloud Campus at Point Pleasant in Mason County, outside both metros. Its application list does not state the fuel. No other filing dated in the past 90 days was found that changes the gas record for Charleston or Huntington-Ashland.24

What should facilities in these metros check now?

  • Tariffs and charges, through a utility audit. Confirm each account is on the right rate class and tariff, and that riders, demand charges and capacity-related charges are billed correctly. Over 70% of the clients Discovery Energy has audited were billed incorrectly. An audit verifies tariffs and charges and recovers overcharges before winter costs rise.
  • Which utility, pipeline and rate. Confirm which utility serves each site and its interruption and balancing terms, because the notices name pipelines and market areas, not utilities.
  • Backup plans and fuel. Check that alternate-fuel and curtailment plans are current and that fuel inventories and resupply are in place before December.
  • Upcoming records. Track each utility's design day statements and any supply plan filing, which would allow a rating.

Frequently asked questions

Why are Charleston and Huntington-Ashland not rated?

Neither Mountaineer nor Columbia Gas of Kentucky publishes a supply-versus-demand balance for a current year in the records reviewed.4 See 'Why these two metros are not rated.'

Do Columbia's critical days mean West Virginia or Kentucky customers lost gas?

No. The notices restrict shippers' takes above firm entitlement in named operating areas. They do not say which utilities or customers were affected, and this page makes no prediction about outages.22

How often did Columbia call critical days for these metros?

Operating Area 3 was included only when Columbia called critical days for all areas, in January 2024 and January 2025. See 'Winter by winter: distinct critical-day events in Operating Area 3.'25

Related case studies

Discovery Energy publishes gas capacity case studies for other metros, using the same method and outlook scale.

All gas capacity ratings by U.S. metro

Understand your capacity exposure

Discovery Energy reviews service elections, interruption terms and regulatory proceedings for organizations across the U.S. and Canada, so capacity changes are understood before they reach the bill.

Schedule a review

Notes

  1. Metro delineation: OMB Bulletin No. 23-01 (July 21, 2023). The counties are Boone, Clay and Kanawha counties in West Virginia for Charleston; and Boyd, Carter, Greenup and Lawrence counties in Kentucky, Lawrence County in Ohio, and Cabell, Putnam and Wayne counties in West Virginia for Huntington-Ashland.
  2. Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, critical notices on TC eConnects, posted September 27, 2023 to October 27, 2026; market area and operating area descriptions, locations report, daily capacity postings, unsubscribed capacity report and Index of Customers. Manual browser downloads, October 26 and 27, 2026. The operating area descriptions are dated December 14, 2012. Source for the 1 gas day in winter 2024-25, in the summary line and in Key takeaways item 2: Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, Capacity Constraint Notice 25924835, January 15, 2025. ↩
  3. Columbia Gas of Kentucky Choice Reference Manual, supplier training manual and tariff P.S.C. Ky. No. 5, and Mountaineer Gas Company's Rate Schedule GTS:. The Kentucky tariff sheets are dated 1993 and 1994 and are scanned, so the text has errors and the sheets may be superseded. Utility statements are the utilities' own; no regulator finding is shown on this page. ↩
  4. Columbia Gas of Kentucky Choice Reference Manual, supplier training manual and tariff P.S.C. Ky. No. 5, and Mountaineer Gas Company's Rate Schedule GTS:. The Kentucky tariff sheets are dated 1993 and 1994 and are scanned, so the text has errors and the sheets may be superseded. Utility statements are the utilities' own; no regulator finding is shown on this page; Records not found or not reached: Mountaineer Gas Company design-day demand and firm supply for a current year (its West Virginia PSC filings are reached only through ViewDocument pages, and its 2025 and 2026 rate and gas cost filings could not be searched); Columbia Gas of Kentucky design-day demand and firm supply (Kentucky PSC case 2024-00092, application Volumes 2 and 3, which were read, hold no numeric design-day or supply figure; Volume 1 and the data-request responses were not read); Mountaineer's tariff rules on curtailment (Section 10 is not on its public site); Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage notices and Index of Customers (its disallows automated access), which matter for Mountaineer; Tennessee Gas Pipeline notices; and notices of other pipelines serving the metros. ↩
  5. Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, critical notices on TC eConnects, posted September 27, 2023 to October 27, 2026; market area and operating area descriptions, locations report, daily capacity postings, unsubscribed capacity report and Index of Customers. Manual browser downloads, October 26 and 27, 2026. The operating area descriptions are dated December 14, 2012. ↩
  6. NOAA Applied Climate Information System, monthly heating degree days base 65F and 1991-2020 normals for the Charleston (Yeager) and Huntington Tri-State airport stations; computed. ↩
  7. Records not found or not reached: Mountaineer Gas Company design-day demand and firm supply for a current year (its West Virginia PSC filings are reached only through ViewDocument pages, and its 2025 and 2026 rate and gas cost filings could not be searched); Columbia Gas of Kentucky design-day demand and firm supply (Kentucky PSC case 2024-00092, application Volumes 2 and 3, which were read, hold no numeric design-day or supply figure; Volume 1 and the data-request responses were not read); Mountaineer's tariff rules on curtailment (Section 10 is not on its public site); Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage notices and Index of Customers (its disallows automated access), which matter for Mountaineer; Tennessee Gas Pipeline notices; and notices of other pipelines serving the metros. ↩
  8. Columbia Gas of Kentucky Choice Reference Manual, supplier training manual and tariff P.S.C. Ky. No. 5, and Mountaineer Gas Company's Rate Schedule GTS:. The Kentucky tariff sheets are dated 1993 and 1994 and are scanned, so the text has errors and the sheets may be superseded. Utility statements are the utilities' own; no regulator finding is shown on this page. ↩
  9. Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, critical notices on TC eConnects, posted September 27, 2023 to October 27, 2026; market area and operating area descriptions, locations report, daily capacity postings, unsubscribed capacity report and Index of Customers. Manual browser downloads, October 26 and 27, 2026. The operating area descriptions are dated December 14, 2012. ↩
  10. Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, critical notices on TC eConnects, posted September 27, 2023 to October 27, 2026; market area and operating area descriptions, locations report, daily capacity postings, unsubscribed capacity report and Index of Customers. Manual browser downloads, October 26 and 27, 2026. The operating area descriptions are dated December 14, 2012. ↩
  11. Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, critical notices on TC eConnects, posted September 27, 2023 to October 27, 2026; market area and operating area descriptions, locations report, daily capacity postings, unsubscribed capacity report and Index of Customers. Manual browser downloads, October 26 and 27, 2026. The operating area descriptions are dated December 14, 2012. ↩
  12. NOAA Applied Climate Information System, monthly heating degree days base 65F and 1991-2020 normals for the Charleston (Yeager) and Huntington Tri-State airport stations; computed; Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, critical notices on TC eConnects, posted September 27, 2023 to October 27, 2026; market area and operating area descriptions, locations report, daily capacity postings, unsubscribed capacity report and Index of Customers. Manual browser downloads, October 26 and 27, 2026. The operating area descriptions are dated December 14, 2012. Source for the critical days in the two milder winters, in the "Weather against normal" section: Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, Capacity Constraint Notice 25924835, January 15, 2025. ↩
  13. NOAA Climate Prediction Center, official 90-day temperature outlook issued October 15, 2026 (GIS shapefiles; the favored category at the metro's principal county); the favored category's probability is NOAA's labelled value for the area, and the other two categories follow NOAA's published convention for the 3-class outlook maps, computed. [W5-WX-CPC-charleston_wv-1]. ↩
  14. Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, critical notices on TC eConnects, posted September 27, 2023 to October 27, 2026; market area and operating area descriptions, locations report, daily capacity postings, unsubscribed capacity report and Index of Customers. Manual browser downloads, October 26 and 27, 2026. The operating area descriptions are dated December 14, 2012. ↩
  15. U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860M, September 2026 release, gas-fired units in the counties of the two metros, counted; Federal Register notice for the Columbia Eastern Panhandle Expansion. ↩
  16. U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860M, September 2026 release, gas-fired units in the counties of the two metros, counted; Federal Register notice for the Columbia Eastern Panhandle Expansion; Records not found or not reached: Mountaineer Gas Company design-day demand and firm supply for a current year (its West Virginia PSC filings are reached only through ViewDocument pages, and its 2025 and 2026 rate and gas cost filings could not be searched); Columbia Gas of Kentucky design-day demand and firm supply (Kentucky PSC case 2024-00092, application Volumes 2 and 3, which were read, hold no numeric design-day or supply figure; Volume 1 and the data-request responses were not read); Mountaineer's tariff rules on curtailment (Section 10 is not on its public site); Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage notices and Index of Customers (its disallows automated access), which matter for Mountaineer; Tennessee Gas Pipeline notices; and notices of other pipelines serving the metros. ↩
  17. Discovery Energy data center scan log, October 28, 2026; a search that finds nothing does not prove that no project exists. ↩
  18. West Virginia Division of Economic Development, Program requirements page, Certified Microgrid Development Program (2026 (page accessed 2026-10-28)), Program page, Requirements for District Certification. ↩
  19. Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, critical notices on TC eConnects, posted September 27, 2023 to October 27, 2026; market area and operating area descriptions, locations report, daily capacity postings, unsubscribed capacity report and Index of Customers. Manual browser downloads, October 26 and 27, 2026. The operating area descriptions are dated December 14, 2012. Notices behind the 7, 1 and 0 gas days in the Charleston section: Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, Capacity Constraint Notice 25891211, January 12, 2024; Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, Capacity Constraint Notice 25924835, January 15, 2025; Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, critical notices posting page, TC eConnects, accessed October 27, 2026, for the winter with none. ↩
  20. Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, critical notices on TC eConnects, posted September 27, 2023 to October 27, 2026; market area and operating area descriptions, locations report, daily capacity postings, unsubscribed capacity report and Index of Customers. Manual browser downloads, October 26 and 27, 2026. The operating area descriptions are dated December 14, 2012. ↩
  21. NOAA Climate Prediction Center, official 90-day temperature outlook issued October 15, 2026 (GIS shapefiles; the favored category at the metro's principal county); the favored category's probability is NOAA's labelled value for the area, and the other two categories follow NOAA's published convention for the 3-class outlook maps, computed; NOAA Climate Prediction Center, official 90-day temperature outlook issued October 15, 2026 (GIS shapefiles; the favored category at the metro's principal county); the favored category's probability is NOAA's labelled value for the area, and the other two categories follow NOAA's published convention for the 3-class outlook maps, computed. [W5-WX-CPC-charleston_wv-1, W5-WX-CPC-charleston_wv-2]. For Charleston, the outlook gives 40.0% above normal, 33.3% near normal and 26.7% below normal for November 2026 to January 2027, and the same split for December 2026 to February 2027. These are NOAA's probabilities for a three-month average temperature, not a forecast of specific days or of an outage. ↩
  22. Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, critical notices on TC eConnects, posted September 27, 2023 to October 27, 2026; market area and operating area descriptions, locations report, daily capacity postings, unsubscribed capacity report and Index of Customers. Manual browser downloads, October 26 and 27, 2026. The operating area descriptions are dated December 14, 2012. Notices behind the 7, 1 and 0 gas days in the Huntington-Ashland section: Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, Capacity Constraint Notice 25891211, January 12, 2024; Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, Capacity Constraint Notice 25924835, January 15, 2025. ↩
  23. NOAA Climate Prediction Center, official 90-day temperature outlook issued October 15, 2026 (GIS shapefiles; the favored category at the metro's principal county); the favored category's probability is NOAA's labelled value for the area, and the other two categories follow NOAA's published convention for the 3-class outlook maps, computed; NOAA Climate Prediction Center, official 90-day temperature outlook issued October 15, 2026 (GIS shapefiles; the favored category at the metro's principal county); the favored category's probability is NOAA's labelled value for the area, and the other two categories follow NOAA's published convention for the 3-class outlook maps, computed. []. For Huntington-Ashland, the outlook gives 40.0% above normal, 33.3% near normal and 26.7% below normal for November 2026 to January 2027, and the same split for December 2026 to February 2027. These are NOAA's probabilities for a three-month average temperature, not a forecast of specific days or of an outage. ↩
  24. West Virginia DEP Division of Air Quality, NSR application list entry: Monarch Cloud Campus, Point Pleasant Campus, R14-0042; Facility ID 053-00136 (2026-07-22 (received); comment closes 2026-11-13), NSR application list, entry for Permit Number R14-0042; Discovery Energy data center scan log, October 28, 2026; a search that finds nothing does not prove that no project exists. ↩
  25. Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, critical notices on TC eConnects, posted September 27, 2023 to October 27, 2026; market area and operating area descriptions, locations report, daily capacity postings, unsubscribed capacity report and Index of Customers. Manual browser downloads, October 26 and 27, 2026. The operating area descriptions are dated December 14, 2012. ↩
  26. Method notes for the tables and counts on this page. Critical-day events: counted by Discovery Energy from Columbia's critical notices posted October 2023 to October 2026; the West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky operating area covers both metros, so the counts are identical for both. Constraint counts: gas days with zero non-firm available capacity at Columbia constraints in the market areas that hold these metros' delivery points, by winter, with the denominator of parsed gas days; summer means June to August; Lanham East, Lanham PKA and Leach are delivery constraints and KA High, Boldman, KA Low and Line P North are receipt constraints on the supply side; counted by Discovery Energy from Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, Operationally Available Capacity postings, TC eConnects, accessed October 26, 2026; unparsed days are excluded. Weather: heating degree days, November to March, as a share of the 1991-2020 normal for the airport weather stations; source NOAA ACIS, computed. Contracts: contracts listed under each shipper's name in Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, Index of Customers, quarter beginning October 1, 2026, accessed October 27, 2026; Dth per day; tabulated by Discovery Energy (list regex-parsed, not hand-checked); the contracts serve each utility's whole system, not only these metros. ↩
  27. Size of the 2024 Kentucky Public Service Commission rate case record read for Columbia Gas of Kentucky: 1,403 pages of application volumes. ↩
  28. Source for Mountaineer's request for 47,500 Dth per day: Federal Register notice for the Columbia Eastern Panhandle Expansion, accessed October 27, 2026. ↩

Sources

  1. Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, critical notices, market area and operating area descriptions, locations report, daily capacity postings, unsubscribed capacity report and Index of Customers, TC eConnects, saved October 26 and 27, 2026.
  2. Columbia Gas of Kentucky, Inc., Choice Reference Manual and supplier training manual. Link
  3. Kentucky Public Service Commission, Columbia Gas of Kentucky tariff and case 2024-00092. Link
  4. Mountaineer Gas Company, Rate Schedule GTS tariff sheets. Link
  5. Federal Register, notice for the Columbia Eastern Panhandle Expansion.
  6. NOAA Applied Climate Information System, monthly heating degree days. Link
  7. U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860M, September 2026 release. Link
  8. Office of Management and Budget, OMB Bulletin No. 23-01, Revised Delineations of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Micropolitan Statistical Areas, and Combined Statistical Areas, July 21, 2023.
  9. NOAA Climate Prediction Center, official 90-day temperature outlook, GIS data, issued October 15, 2026, saved October 28, 2026. Link
  10. Data center scan records saved October 28, 2026 (AltaGas Ltd., Delaware and West Virginia agencies, Federal Register and others) are listed in the Notes.

Sources: Discovery Energy compilation from public FERC-required pipeline operational notices, capacity reports, and Indexes of Customers postings as published by the interstate pipelines serving this metro, and from public gas-utility documents. Discovery Energy is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any pipeline, utility, or regulator named on this page. All trademarks and names remain the property of their respective owners. Counts, summaries, tables, and charts are original Discovery Energy compilations; readers should verify against the cited notices. Data current as of October 27, 2026. For information only and not a guarantee of future pipeline operations, capacity, or pricing. - NOAA Climate Prediction Center, official 90-day temperature outlook, GIS data, issued October 15, 2026, saved October 28, 2026. https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/GIS/GIS_DATA/us_tempprcpfcst/seasonal.php - Data center scan records saved October 28, 2026 (AltaGas Ltd., Delaware and West Virginia agencies, Federal Register and others) are listed in the Notes.