COMPANYHISTORIES
NAIC 22121

Natural Gas Distribution

How the companies in this industry began, and the forces that shaped them.

58companies1848–2000founding years54still active4no longer operating
§ 01

The industry over time

Companies foundedEconomyTechnologyEnvironmentHistory
FoundedWashington Gas Light Company
1848
1859
TechnologyDrake's well at Titusville launches the oil industry.
FoundedAtlantic Richfield Company
1870
FoundedEquitable Resources, Inc.
1888
FoundedWisconsin Energy Corporation
1896
1903
TechnologyThe Wright brothers achieve powered flight.
FoundedThe Williams Companies, Inc.
1908
1914
EconomyWorld War I begins; global trade reorders.
FoundedAmeren Corporation
1922
FoundedFlorida Public Utilities Company
1924
FoundedAquila, Inc.
1926
FoundedKinder Morgan, Inc.
1927
FoundedSouthern Union Company
1932
1939
EconomyWorld War II begins; wartime production surges.
1945
EconomyThe war ends; a long global expansion begins.
FoundedChinese Petroleum Corporation
1946
FoundedPetrobras Energia Participaciones S.A.
1947
TechnologyThe transistor is invented.
FoundedCascade Natural Gas Corporation
1953
FoundedWashington Natural Gas Company
1955
1958
TechnologyThe integrated circuit is demonstrated.
1962
EnvironmentSilent Spring launches the modern environmental movement.
1973
EconomyThe OPEC oil embargo triggers a global shock.
1975
TechnologyThe personal-computer era begins.
1979
EconomyA second oil crisis drives inflation higher worldwide.
1981
TechnologyThe IBM PC launches and sets a standard.
FoundedUnión Fenosa, S.A.
1982
FoundedUnitil Corporation
1984
TechnologyApple ships the Macintosh; the GUI era begins.
1989
HistoryThe Berlin Wall falls; global markets open up.
1991
TechnologyThe World Wide Web is released to the public.
FoundedGas Natural SDG S.A.
1992
1993
TechnologyThe Mosaic browser brings the web to everyone.
1995
TechnologyWindows 95 launches; the internet goes mainstream.
FoundedCentrica plc
1997
EnvironmentThe Kyoto Protocol sets the first climate targets.
2004
TechnologySocial media and Web 2.0 take hold.
2007
TechnologyThe iPhone launches the smartphone era.
2010
TechnologyCloud computing goes mainstream for business.
2015
EnvironmentThe Paris Agreement sets global climate targets.
2020
EconomyThe COVID-19 pandemic upends the global economy.
2022
EconomyInflation spikes; central banks raise rates sharply.
2023
TechnologyGenerative AI reaches mainstream business use.
§ 02

The companies

Washington Gas Light Company →
Active · founded 1848
Washington Gas Light Company provides natural gas to the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area including segments of…
Atlanta Gas Light Company →
Active · founded 1856
Atlanta Gas Light Company is the southeastern United States' largest natural gas distribution company.
Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux →
Active · founded 1858 · France
Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux has transformed itself into one of the world's leading multi-utility powerhouses, offering…
Atlantic Richfield Company →
Active · founded 1870
Atlantic Richfield Company, better known as ARCO, is the seventh-largest U.S.
UGI Corporation →
Active · founded 1882
UGI Corporation is a holding company with two principal subsidiaries.
Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. →
Active · founded 1885 · Japan
With nearly nine million customers, Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd.
Equitable Resources, Inc. →
Active · founded 1888
Equitable Resources, Inc.
Electrabel N.V. →
Active · founded 1892 · Belgium
Electrabel N.V.
Madison Gas and Electric Company →
Active · founded 1896
Madison Gas and Electric Company (MGE) is a relatively small power company that has remained independent and profitable…
Wisconsin Energy Corporation →
Active · founded 1896
Early 1920s:North American forms Wisconsin Electric Power Company (WEPCo); Lakeside Power Plant is built.
Osaka Gas Company, Ltd. →
Active · founded 1897 · Japan
Osaka Gas Company, Ltd.
RWE AG →
Active · founded 1898 · Germany
RWE AG is the holding company for the dominant electricity producer in Germany: RWE Group.
The Williams Companies, Inc. →
Active · founded 1908
The Williams Companies, Inc., is the largest interstate natural gas supplier in the United States.
Dominion Resources, Inc. →
Active · founded 1909
Dominion Resources, Inc.
Northwest Natural Gas Company →
Active · founded 1910
Northwest Natural Gas Company, which does business as Northwest Natural, distributes natural gas to approximately…
PNM Resources Inc. →
Active · founded 1917
PNM Resources Inc.
Ameren Corporation →
Active · founded 1922
Ameren Corporation provides a variety of energy services to over 2.2 million customers in Missouri and Illinois with a…
New Jersey Resources Corporation →
Active · founded 1922
New Jersey Resources Corporation (NJR) is a holding company, whose primary subsidiary is New Jersey Natural Gas…
NorthWestern Corporation →
Active · founded 1923
One of the United States' fastest-growing companies, NorthWestern Corporation is a diversified holding company with…
Florida Public Utilities Company →
Active · founded 1924
Florida Public Utilities Company (FPU) is a small but growing publicly traded energy company, providing electricity,…
Allegheny Energy, Inc. →
Active · founded 1925
Allegheny Energy, Inc.
VEW AG →
Active · founded 1925 · Germany
VEW AG is one of Germany's leading utility companies and is active throughout Europe.
Aquila, Inc. →
Active · founded 1926
Aquila, Inc.
Commonwealth Energy System →
Active · founded 1926
Commonwealth Energy System (COM/Energy) is a public utility holding company with four subsidiaries operating in…
Ruhrgas AG →
Defunct · founded 1926 · Germany
Ruhrgas AG is Germany's largest natural gas distribution company.
Kinder Morgan, Inc. →
Active · founded 1927
Based in Houston, Texas, Kinder Morgan, Inc.
Northeast Utilities →
Active · founded 1927
Northeast Utilities (NU) is New England's largest utility company.
Niagara Mohawk Holdings Inc. →
Defunct · founded 1929
Niagara Mohawk Holdings Inc.
Southwest Gas Corporation →
Active · founded 1931
Southwest Gas Corporation is a natural gas utility serving one of the fastest growing regions of the United States.
Southern Union Company →
Active · founded 1932
Southern Union Company is a publicly owned international holding company for public utilities and other energy-related…
Consolidated Natural Gas Company →
Active · founded 1942
Consolidated Natural Gas Company (CNG) is one of the nation's few integrated natural gas systems, and one of its…
Indiana Energy, Inc. →
Active · founded 1945
Indiana Energy, Inc.
Chinese Petroleum Corporation →
Active · founded 1946 · Republic of China
Chinese Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is a state-owned enterprise that is responsible for the Republic of China's…
Gaz de France →
Defunct · founded 1946 · France
Not content to be Europe's third largest provider of natural gas, Gaz de France (GDF) is gunning for that market's top…
Chesapeake Utilities Corporation →
Active · founded 1947
Chesapeake Utilities Corporation, based in Dover, Delaware, is a small, diversified utility company involved in four…
Petrobras Energia Participaciones S.A. →
Active · founded 1947 · Argentina
Petrobras Energia Participaciones S.A.
Entergy Corporation →
Active · founded 1949
Entergy Corporation is a holding company for utilities that supply electrical energy to over 2.5 million customers in…
Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. →
Active · founded 1950
Since its formation in 1950, Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc., has provided natural gas and propane to customers…
Cascade Natural Gas Corporation →
Active · founded 1953
Cascade Natural Gas Corporation is a gas distribution company that serves more than 100,000 customers in nearly 90…
ENI S.p.A. →
Active · founded 1953 · Italy
ENI S.p.A., the former Italian state-owned Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi, is one of the world's top ten oil and natural…
The Coastal Corporation →
Active · founded 1955
The Coastal Corporation, based in Houston with operations in several energy markets, is a Fortune 500 energy company…
Washington Natural Gas Company →
Active · founded 1955
Washington Natural Gas Company, the largest natural gas utility in the State of Washington, is one of the fastest…
Sideco Americana S.A. →
Active · founded 1961 · Argentina
Sideco Americana S.A.
Bay State Gas Company →
Active · founded 1974
Bay State Gas Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of NiSource, Inc., acquired in a 1999 merger that created the tenth…
Suncor Energy Inc. →
Active · founded 1979 · Canada
Suncor Energy Inc.
Unión Fenosa, S.A. →
Defunct · founded 1982 · Spain
Unión Fenosa, S.A.
Dynegy Inc. →
Active · founded 1984
Dynegy Inc.
SCANA Corporation →
Active · founded 1984
SCANA Corporation is a diversified holding company headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina.
Unitil Corporation →
Active · founded 1984
Unitil Corporation is a public utility holding company system.
Hyder plc →
Active · founded 1989 · United Kingdom
Many-headed Hyder (the Welsh word for confidence; rhymes with rudder) plc provides integrated water, electricity, and…
Powergen PLC →
Active · founded 1989 · United Kingdom
Powergen PLC is a leading integrated gas and electric company created from the breakup of the nationalized electricity…
Gas Natural SDG S.A. →
Active · founded 1992 · Spain
Spain's Gas Natural SDG S.A.
MOL Rt →
Active · founded 1992 · Hungary
Hungary's largest company, MOL Rt (formerly MOL Magyar Olaj- es Gazipari Rt) is also the leading integrated oil company…
Westar Energy, Inc. →
Active · founded 1992 · Topeka, Kansas 66601-0889
Westar Energy, Inc.--formerly Western Resources, Inc.--was formed in 1992 as the result of a merger between the Kansas…
Centrica plc →
Active · founded 1997 · United Kingdom
Centrica plc is the largest gas supplier in the United Kingdom, serving 16 million households, and a growing force in…
Fortum Corporation →
Active · founded 1998 · Finland
Fortum Corporation is an international energy group formed from the 1998 merger of two state-owned Finnish firms: Neste…
Sempra Energy →
Active · founded 1998
Sempra Energy is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company which was formed by the 1998 merger of Pacific…
E.On AG →
Active · founded 2000 · Germany
E.On AG is the largest listed power generation company in Europe.
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