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Note 14 - Commitments and Contingencies
 9 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2024
Notes to Financial Statements  
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

14.

Commitments and Contingencies

 

Roanoke Gas currently holds the only franchises and/or CPCNs to distribute natural gas in its service area.  These franchises generally extend for multi-year periods and are renewable by the municipalities, including exclusive franchises in the cities of Roanoke and Salem and the Town of Vinton, Virginia.  All three franchises are set to expire December 31, 2035. In 2019, the SCC issued an order granting a CPCN to furnish gas to all of Franklin County.  Unlike the CPCNs for the other counties served by Roanoke Gas, the Franklin County CPCN was scheduled to terminate within five years of the date of the order if Roanoke Gas did not furnish gas service to the designated service area.  In November 2023, the SCC granted Roanoke Gas a three-year extension on the CPCN.  Roanoke Gas has commissioned its new gate station in Franklin County, and expects to deliver gas to its first customer in Franklin County this fiscal year.

 

Due to the nature of the natural gas distribution business, the Company has entered into agreements with both suppliers and pipelines for natural gas commodity purchases, storage capacity and pipeline delivery capacity.  The Company utilizes asset managers to assist in optimizing the use of its transportation, storage rights and gas supply in order to provide a secure and reliable source of natural gas to its customers.  The Company also has storage and pipeline capacity contracts to store and deliver natural gas to the Company’s distribution system.  Roanoke Gas is currently served directly by three primary pipelines that deliver all of the natural gas supplied to the Company’s distribution system.  Depending on weather conditions and the level of customer demand, failure of one of these transmission pipelines could have a major adverse impact on the Company's ability to deliver natural gas to its customers and its results of operations.  With the MVP now in service, there is an enhanced reliability in the system and the Company's ability to meet demands for natural gas.