Spartan utilities distributes natural gas to households in
South-West Michigan. Spartan has 25,000 miles of retail gas
distribution pipelines. The distribution pipelines sometimes
develop leaks due to weather conditions and corrosion. Spartan
estimates that the probability of a gas pipeline developing a leak
is 0.0002/year/mile of pipeline. Spartan also estimates that an
average leaking pipe incident results in $10,000 in repair costs,
$5,000 in natural gas lost, $8,000 in compensation to affected
parties, $2,000 in other costs such as evacuation,...