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Century, Pensacola At Odds Over Natural Gas Franchise, North Escambia Service

The Town of Century and the City of Pensacola are at odds over natural gas service in Bratt and Walnut Hill — a disagreement that has raised concerns that three schools could suddenly be left without natural gas service.

Century currently holds franchise rights from Escambia County to provide natural gas service from the Escambia River westward to almost the Perdido River and from the Alabama state line southward to near Bogia. The franchise area includes Century, Byrneville, Bratt, Oak Grove, Walnut Hill and McDavid.

The 50-year franchise was granted by the county in 1968 to the Town of Century (then known as the Town of South Flomaton)  to provide natural gas services to the northernmost part of the county.

Pensacola  Energy, formerly known as Energy Services of Pensacola, currently provides natural gas service to commercial customers in Bratt and Walnut Hill — within the Town of Century’s gas franchise area. Pensacola Energy provides natural gas to Ernest Ward Middle School and Escambia Grain in Walnut Hill, and Bratt Elementary and Northview High School in Bratt.  They also provide natural gas service to an unknown number of residential customers near Kansas Road, Green Village Road and North Highway 99 in Bratt.

“They have infringed in our territory and taken some of our major customers,” Century Mayor Freddie McCall said, adding it would be a “big financial gain” for Century’s gas department to acquire the schools and other customers being served by Pensacola Energy within a territory that legally belongs to Century.

The gas service disagreement between Century and Pensacola exploded in February after Century requested their  franchise agreement with the county be extended.

Century is now considering significantly upgrading its capacity for servicing residents and businesses located in this franchise area, but the present franchise expires in five years.  Rather than extending the current franchise agreement, the town is requesting that the BOCC adopt a new franchise ordinance that provides it with the same rights and responsibilities, including payment of franchise fees, as those franchises that the commission recently approved with  Gulf Breeze and Pensacola.

This new franchise would expire in 2045 would not extend beyond the  geographical franchise area previously designated in 1968. Century currently provides gas service only in a portion of their franchise area — near the town limits, south along Highway 29 to and including a portion of Highway 164, and west into Byrneville.

The Escambia County Commission was set to hold a public hearing and vote on the extended franchise agreement back in February, but that action was tabled after Pensacola Energy Director Don Suarez express concerns that Pensacola would no longer be able to serve the schools and other customers in Bratt and Walnut Hill due to different wording in the the franchise agreement.

“We already have customers in this area,” Suarez told the Escambia County Commission in February. “What we are trying to protect are those customers and the service to those customers.  There is a clause in the 1968 franchise that allows any customer served by another corporation or entity providing natural gas to those customers to allow them to continue to receive gas from [that corporation or entity]. The new ordinance does not have that clause. And in addition, the original ordinance was not an exclusive franchise; the new ordinance is an exclusive franchise.”

McCall said Suarez “lied to the county commissioners in the meeting”, but McCall did not offer any specifics.

The mayor said Century contends that the old Energy Services of Pensacola provided services illegally in Century’s franchise area and place pipes on county right of ways without county permission. As a result, he said, Pensacola does not actually own the infrastructure used to serve the North Escambia customers.

McCall there are no Pensacola Energy pipelines from Pensacola to Walnut Hill and Bratt. Instead, he said, Pensacola Energy taps into the same Gulf South pipeline that Century uses as their natural gas source. He said the Gulf South meters should be read and the service transferred to Century.

McCall said Pensacola Energy has threatened to cut service to their Walnut Hill and Bratt customers, including Northview, Ernest Ward and Bratt Elementary, without further warning.

“It’s not right,” he said. “In the best of all worlds, they are going to see the handwriting on the wall, and they are going to walk away and there will be no interruption in service.”

“It remains to be resolved whether the City of Pensacola had the right to provide such service, and, further, whether it will be allowed to continue to do so,” Matt Dannheisser, Century’s attorney, said in March 11 letter to Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward.

“The Town of Century had been made aware of certain comments attributable to your staff that customers which Pensacola currently serves in Century’s franchise territory may be immediately cut off and will not have any gas service,” Dannheisser wrote. “The last thing the Town of Century wants is for school children to show up one day for school and there be no gas for heating or preparing food.

“From your conversation with Mayor McCall, I understand that you share those feelings and assured Mayor McCall that service to customers in the Century franchise will not be terminated until our two cities resolve the matter,” the attorney wrote.

Rebecca McLellan, a spokesperson for the City of Pensacola, told NorthEscambia.com Wednesday that “Pensacola Energy has told the Escambia County Commission that it wants to continue to serve its existing customers”.

“Pensacola Energy will continue to serve the current customers in Century until voted otherwise by Escambia County Commission,” she said.

The Escambia County Commission has not yet rescheduled the item for consideration as the parties continue their negotiations.

Pictured top: A Pensacola Energy meter in front of Ernest Ward Middle School in Walnut Hill, inside the Town of Century gas franchise area. Pictured below: The Town of Century’s gas franchise map (click to enlarge). NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.