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IGS Energy
Company typeFamily Business
IndustryNatural Gas Supply
Founded1989
HeadquartersDublin, Ohio
ProductsNatural gas
Number of employees
200+

IGS Energy, also known as Interstate Gas Supply, Inc., is America's largest independent retail natural gas supplier, serving more than 800,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in the states of Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Virginia and Illinois.[1][2][3] The company was founded in 1989, and today IGS Energy employs more than 200 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]]. [6]

Natural Gas and Electric Residential Choice Programs

IGS Energy is a leading provider in Natural Gas Choice and Electric Choice residential programs 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, Commonwealth Edison of Illinois and Columbia Gas of Virginia. Residential choice programs enable consumers and other small volume users to purchase natural gas from suppliers other than their local utility company. Before Natural Gas Choice, natural gas customers were required to purchase natural gas from their local utility. With Natural Gas Choice programs, customers can either purchase from their natural gas utility or choose to receive their gas supply from certified suppliers.[7]

Participation in Residential Choice Programs

In 2008 customer participation in natural gas choice programs throughout the United States reached an all time high.[8] 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.

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.[9]

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.[10][11][12] FOX Sports also provides a TV post-game show for the Blue Jackets that is sponsored by IGS Energy.[13] 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.[14] IGS Energy is also a sponsor of the Dublin Irish Festival and the IGS Energy Dublin Irish Festival 5K.[15]

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."[16] 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 trade name and logo could be mistake as the utility.

After IGS energy hired lobbyist Don Thibault, Ohio Governor Kasich's "best friend"[17] 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."[18]

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.".[19] Authorship for this portion of the House bill is unknown.[20]

References

  1. ^ http://www.igsenergy.com
  2. ^ http://www.igsenergy.com/Residential
  3. ^ http://www.igsenergy.com/WhyIGS
  4. ^ http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/03/17/story2.html
  5. ^ http://www.bbb.org/centralohio/business-reviews/natural-gas-companies/igs-energy-in-dublin-oh-31000371/
  6. ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/30/idUS171549+30-Jun-2011+PRN20110630
  7. ^ http://www.columbiagasohio.com/en/your-home/Customer-choice/choice-faqs.aspx
  8. ^ http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/restructure/state/us.html
  9. ^ http://finance.yahoo.com/news/IGS-Energy-Headquarters-prnews-1225978914.html?x=0
  10. ^ http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/09/25/story1.html
  11. ^ http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/31/biz_06nhl_Columbus-Blue-Jackets_316038.html
  12. ^ http://bluejackets.nhl.com/fanzone/GameEntertainment.htm
  13. ^ http://msn.foxsports.com/id/5940744
  14. ^ http://bluejackets.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=422359
  15. ^ http://www.irishfestrun.com
  16. ^ http://www.pickocc.org/news/2010/pressrelease.php?date=10212010
  17. ^ http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/05/22/kasich-friends-in-high-demand-as-lobbyists.html?sid=101
  18. ^ http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/05/22/kasich-friends-in-high-demand-as-lobbyists.html?sid=101
  19. ^ http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/05/15/gag-on-ohios-consumer-counsel-blasted.html
  20. ^ http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/05/15/gag-on-ohios-consumer-counsel-blasted.html
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