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A budget bill that passed the Ohio House in May 2011 placed a gag order on the OCC, preventing it from taking "a position contrary to further deregulation of the natural gas market.".<ref name="gag">http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/05/15/gag-on-ohios-consumer-counsel-blasted.html</ref> Authorship for this portion of the House bill is unknown.<ref name="gag"/>
A budget bill that passed the Ohio House in May 2011 placed a gag order on the OCC, preventing it from taking "a position contrary to further deregulation of the natural gas market.".<ref name="gag">http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/05/15/gag-on-ohios-consumer-counsel-blasted.html</ref> Authorship for this portion of the House bill is unknown.<ref name="gag"/>

In August 2012, the PUCO dismissed the complaint filed by the OCC ruling that there was no basis for the allegations made against IGS Energy. <ref> http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2012/08/15/IGS-Energy-can-use-columbia-name.html</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 01:38, 21 August 2012

IGS Energy
Company typeFamily Business
IndustryNatural Gas and Electric Supply
Founded1989
HeadquartersDublin, Ohio
ProductsNatural gas, electricity
Number of employees
300+

IGS Energy, also known as Interstate Gas Supply, Inc., is America's largest independent retail natural gas and electric supplier, serving approximately 900,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in the states of Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Virginia, Maryland and Illinois.[1][2][3] The company was founded in 1989, and today IGS Energy employs more than 300 people at its headquarters in Dublin, Ohio.[4] IGS Energy has earned an A+ rating from the central Ohio Better Business Bureau.[5]

History

IGS Energy’s founding has its roots in the oil and energy crisis of 1973. In response to OPEC price hikes and the resulting U.S. oil crisis, Congress passed the Emergency Natural Gas Act of 1977, which opened the door for natural gas choice programs to spring up in several states. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, these natural gas programs for commercial and industrial customers were introduced nationwide. In the late 1990s, gas was made available to residential consumers.

In 1986, Marvin White, former CEO of Columbia Gas Distribution Companies, helped found Ohio’s choice program. Three years later, in 1989, he founded Interstate Gas Supply, Inc. (IGS Energy), in Dublin, Ohio, with his son, Scott. The privately held company began as a commercial and industrial wholesale supplier of Ohio-produced natural gas. By 1992, IGS Energy expanded its focus to include natural gas retail marketing directly to end-users.

Following the deregulation of residential natural gas service in 1997, IGS Energy began serving residential customers of Columbia Gas of Ohio. IGS Energy further expanded into the residential and small commercial arenas in 1999. Today, as a natural gas provider, the company offers gas in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Virginia and Illinois and has plans to expand further.[citation needed]. In 2011 IGS Energy began providing electric service to customers in Chicago and Pennsylvania. [6]

Natural gas and electric residential choice programs

IGS Energy is a leading provider in Natural Gas Choice in several Midwestern and Northeastern utilities, including Columbia Gas of Ohio, Dominion East Ohio, Duke Energy, Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio, Columbia Gas of Kentucky, Michcon, Consumers Energy, NIPSCO, Nicor, Central Hudson, National Grid, National Fuel of New York, Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, National Fuel of Pennsylvania, and Columbia Gas of Virginia. IGS provides electric service to residential customers in Duquesne Light of Pennsylvania, PECO Energy Company of Pennsylvania and Commonwealth Edison of Illinois.[7] Residential choice programs enable consumers and other small volume users to purchase natural gas and electricity from suppliers other than their local utility company. Before Choice programs, natural gas and electric customers were required to purchase natural gas and electricity from their local utility. With Choice programs, customers can either purchase from their natural gas utility or choose to receive their gas supply from certified suppliers.[8] In February of 2012 IGS Energy began serving electric customers in Ohio in the American Electric Power, Duke Energy and Dayton Power & Light service territories. [9] [10]

Participation in residential choice programs

In 2008 customer participation in natural gas choice programs throughout the United States reached an all time high.[11] IGS Energy's largest customer base is in the state of Ohio. More than 40 percent of the state's residential natural gas customers were purchasing from a certified provider as of September 2008.

Involvement in the community

IGS Energy is a sponsor of major professional sports teams including the Cleveland Browns and the Columbus Blue Jackets. As part of the Blue Jackets sponsorship, IGS Energy is known for its radio-controlled blimp that flies in the air above the crowd in Nationwide Arena between periods and drops player autographed merchandise and other popular prizes to the fans.[12][13][14] FOX Sports also provides a TV post-game show for the Blue Jackets that is sponsored by IGS Energy.[15] IGS Energy also sponsors the "Columbus Blue Jackets: A Season to Remember", a 30 minute recap of the Blue Jackets first playoff season that runs on Fox Sports Ohio.[16] IGS Energy is also a sponsor of the Dublin Irish Festival and the IGS Energy Dublin Irish Festival 5K.[17]

Environmental initiatives

IGS Energy headquarters obtained LEED Platinum certification in June 2011, the highest level of LEED certification that can be obtained and central Ohio's first commercial building to obtain such certification.[18] In 2011 IGS Energy entered into a partnership with the City of Dublin to construct a compressed natural gas refueling station. Dublin uses the station to refuel its natural gas vehicle fleet. [19] [20] The Dublin station opened in the summer of 2012. [21]

Controversy

IGS recently purchased a three-year license to use the trade name Columbia Retail Energy and Columbia logo from NiSource Inc. NiSource is the parent company of Columbia Gas of Ohio and neither is affiliated with IGS."[22] The public agency the Ohio Consumers Council (OCC) filed a complaint in October, 2010 at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) along with Stand Energy Corp., Border Energy, the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council and the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, alleging the IGS mailed materials to Columbia Gas customers using a Columbia Retail Energy trade name and logo could be mistaken as the utility.

After IGS energy hired lobbyist Don Thibault, Ohio Governor Kasich's "best friend"[23] and campaign contributor, Kasich's two-year budget in March cut funding for the council by over 51% -- "far more than the average 5.3 percent cut for other state agencies."[23]

A budget bill that passed the Ohio House in May 2011 placed a gag order on the OCC, preventing it from taking "a position contrary to further deregulation of the natural gas market.".[24] Authorship for this portion of the House bill is unknown.[24]

In August 2012, the PUCO dismissed the complaint filed by the OCC ruling that there was no basis for the allegations made against IGS Energy. [25]

References

  1. ^ http://www.igsenergy.com
  2. ^ http://www.igsenergy.com/Residential
  3. ^ http://www.igsenergy.com/WhyIGS
  4. ^ Ball, Brian R. (17 March 2008). "Interstate Gas Supply alights in Dublin".
  5. ^ http://www.bbb.org/centralohio/business-reviews/natural-gas-companies/igs-energy-in-dublin-oh-31000371/
  6. ^ "America's #1 Independent Retail Supplier of Natural Gas Enters Electricity Market". Reuters. 30 June 2011.
  7. ^ Paul, Ring. "Interstate Gas Supply Begins Offering Service at Duquesne Light". Energy Choice Matters. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  8. ^ http://www.columbiagasohio.com/en/your-home/Customer-choice/choice-faqs.aspx
  9. ^ http://www.energychoicematters.com/stories/20120214a.html
  10. ^ http://www.energychoicematters.com/stories/20120507a.html
  11. ^ http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/restructure/state/us.html
  12. ^ Bell, Jeff (25 September 2006). "Blue Jackets enjoy solid sponsor support".
  13. ^ "#25 Columbus Blue Jackets". Forbes. 9 November 2006.
  14. ^ http://bluejackets.nhl.com/fanzone/GameEntertainment.htm
  15. ^ http://msn.foxsports.com/id/5940744
  16. ^ http://bluejackets.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=422359
  17. ^ http://www.irishfestrun.com
  18. ^ http://finance.yahoo.com/news/IGS-Energy-Headquarters-prnews-1225978914.html?x=0
  19. ^ http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/07/14/dublin-moves-toward-using-natural-gas-in-vehicles.html
  20. ^ http://cng.igsenergy.com/
  21. ^ http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/dublin/news/2012/06/20/compressed-natural-gas-fueling-station-will-help-save-dollars-lower-emissions.html
  22. ^ http://www.pickocc.org/news/2010/pressrelease.php?date=10212010
  23. ^ a b http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/05/22/kasich-friends-in-high-demand-as-lobbyists.html?sid=101
  24. ^ a b http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/05/15/gag-on-ohios-consumer-counsel-blasted.html
  25. ^ http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2012/08/15/IGS-Energy-can-use-columbia-name.html
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