NEWS

Ohio sets hearings for Duke pipeline project

Carrie Blackmore Smith
csmith@enquirer.com
Duke Energy

The state board that will decide whether Duke Energy can build a proposed gas pipeline in Hamilton County has scheduled two key hearings regarding the project.

The first is a public hearing, which will allow people to express their views on the roughly 13-mile long, 20-inch diameter natural gas pipeline planned to run underground from an existing gas main near the intersection of Butler, Warren and Hamilton counties to an existing main in either the Norwood area or the Fairfax area.

The public hearing will be held from 3-8 p.m. June 15 in Room 19 of Muntz Hall at the University of Cincinnati-Blue Ash campus, located at 9555 Plainfield Road.

Duke wants to extend the pipeline "in order to increase the reliability of natural gas delivery in central Cincinnati," the announcement from the Ohio Power Siting Board reads.

Then comes an adjudicatory hearing at 10 a.m. on July 12, at the offices of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Hearing Room 11-A, 180 E. Broad St. in Columbus.

Several parties, including many of the communities where the pipeline is proposed, have filed to intervene and fight construction. They will make their cases at the adjudicatory hearing. Those parties include: Jewish Hospital, Columbia Township, Deer Park, Reading, Golf Manor, the Board of Hamilton County Commissioners, Amberley Village, Sycamore Township, Blue Ash, Evendale, Cincinnati, Pleasant Ridge Community Council, Madeira and an organization called Neighbors Opposed to Pipeline Extension.

IGS Energy, a natural gas and electricity provider that serves some Duke customers, has also asked to intervene. The company has not yet determined its position on the case, said Kerri Ward, an IGS spokeswoman.

"IGS routinely intervenes in utility commission proceedings such as this to ensure that our interests and the interests of our customers are protected," Ward said.

To learn more about the state's process and the case, visit www.OPSB.ohio.gov. The case number is 16-253-GA-BTX.

Editor's note: The original article was altered to correct IGS Energy's stance on intervention.