Dominion offloads West Virginia gas utility for $690mn

US energy group Dominion announced on February 11 it had agreed to sell its West Virginia gas utility Hope Gas, otherwise known as Dominion Energy West Virginia, to investment group Ullico's infrastructure fund for $690mn.

The deal is slated to be closed late this year, Dominion said, noting that Ullico planned to fold the business into Hearthstone Utilities, which owns and operates gas utilities in Indiana, Maine, Montana, North Carolina and Ohio. 

Dominion said the sale was agreed following a competition process, noting that its value was the equivalent of 26.2 times Hope Gas' net income in 2021. Hope Gas serves 110,000 customers in West Virginia.

Dominion also revealed its financial results for the fourth quarter on February 11, reporting a near doubling of net income to $1.34bn, from $682mn a year earlier. Revenues rose to $3.88bn, from $3.52bn, while income from operations grew to $937mn from $856mn. The company gained from the sale of Questar Pipelines, the owner of some 3,500 km of gas pipelines in the Rocky Mountain region, to Southwest Gas at the end of last year.