Hope Gas wants to abandon more than 1,000 miles of pipeline in more than 20 West Virginia counties, a move that would switch about 600 customers who get service by tapping into Hope transmission lines to propane or electricity. The Public Service Commission. citing the high cost per customer of continuing natural gas service, calls it a prudent course of action. The farm-tap change is contingent on the commission approving Hope abandoning the lines. Eyewitness News reported Ritchie County gas producers fear the change will leave them without a way for moving their gas from low production wells to market. State regulators will look at the pipeline abandonment at a public hearing in Charleston now planned for May 14.