Gas Companies In Atlanta Georgia

Gas Companies In Atlanta Georgia - In February 1856 the Atlanta Gas Light Company was incorporated to supply gas lights to the city of Atlanta. One of the oldest companies in Georgia, Atlanta Gas Light provided gas light, heat and power to many Atlanta homes and still delivers natural gas to 1.5 million homes in Georgia. The company is a division of AGL Resources, a publicly traded multinational energy company.

When Atlanta's leaders decided to light the city's first gas street lamp on December 25, 1855, they sparked a new era in the city's early history. Before the advent of gas or electric street lights, it could be dangerous to walk through the rapidly growing young city after dark, with almost invisible barriers and potholes on the unlit dirt roads.

Gas Companies In Atlanta Georgia

Industrialist William Helme of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded the Atlanta Gas Light Company after a sawmill he owned in Brunswick burned to the ground. Helme entered into an agreement with the Atlanta City Council to build a coal-fired gas plant, commonly known as a gas plant. (Before the discovery and use of natural gas, gas companies relied on factories that burned coal or boiled water to create the gas.) The city, in turn, agreed to use -less fifty street lamps and thirty pay dollars a year for gas. to light the lamps. The city also agreed to give the company exclusive rights for fifty years to light the streets of Atlanta. On April 6, 1855, the two parties agreed on terms, and construction began on the first Atlantic gas plant.

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The popularity of gas lights grew rapidly, and the shareholders of the company reaped handsome rewards. Initial challenges included keeping the lamps lit and in good condition, as well as deciding whether Atlanta Gas Light employees or city police officers would light them each night.

In the midst of the Civil War (1861-65), the city briefly took over the company because most of the company's stock was still owned by Helme and northern investors, who were considered "enemy aliens" according to a court decision. The company was destroyed when Union General William T. Sherman's troops burned its gas plants to the ground in 1864.

Like the rest of the Atlantic and the South, Atlanta Gas Light had uneven success in the post-war Reconstruction years, booming and busting. By 1880 the economic conditions had allowed all the city's lamps to be lit again.

But many new challenges emerged. On July 21, 1881, the Atlanta City Council gave permission to turn on the first electric light, but it took more than two years for the Georgia Electric Light Company to start installing its electric lights. At that time, Atlanta Gas Light had 426 gas lamps on the city streets. The city also severed its direct ties to Atlanta Gas Light by the late 1980s, selling its stock shares for various purposes, including building a building for what became the Georgia Institute of Technology.

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The Welsbach Mantle, a unique type of gas burning lamp, allowed gas lamps to be used effectively in homes and competed with electric street lamps - for a while -. Recognizing the inevitable dominance of electric light, gas companies began to focus on other uses for gas in the home, including indoor heating, water heating and cooking. Since most homes were not wired for electricity, gas lighting remained a popular choice in Atlantic homes.

In 1889 the directors of the company accepted an offer from the United Gas Improvement Company to acquire Atlanta Gas Light. United Gas was an active owner of gas companies throughout the country. In 1903 United Gas sold Atlanta Gas Light to Georgia Railway and Electric (GR & E), the predecessor of Georgia Power. The company was owned by Georgia Power until 1929. The company's next owner, Central Public Service Company, wanted to bring natural gas to Atlanta, and by 1930 natural gas was flowing through the system.

The gas pipeline ran from Louisiana to Georgia and offered gas to industry, homes and public facilities. To accommodate the "big change" in natural gas, the company had installed an almost new distribution system. It now offered a seemingly limitless supply of quality product at low prices, and the company's revised charter allowed it to serve the entire state. Unfortunately, the timing was bad; the company would have to wait until the Great Depression to take full advantage of its investment. During the thirties, the company successfully increased its clientele and expanded its service to cities in the greater Atlanta area: Avondale Estates, College Park, Decatur, East Point, Hapeville, Marietta, and Smyrna. In 1941, Electric and Gas Consolidated consolidated its gas subsidiaries in several cities in Georgia under the Atlanta Gas Light banner.

During the Second World War (1941-45), the company was struggling to maintain service and almost half of its employees were serving in the army and as raw material was diverted to the war effort. But by the end of the war, after mergers, consolidation and organic growth, Atlanta Gas Light served more than 123,000 customers across the state.

Atlanta Gas Light Company

Business increased as soldiers returned home and set up homes. 1949 was the company's most successful year selling gas ranges, refrigerators, water heaters and other gas appliances. In 1947 the Central Public Service divested the company, and did so by offering its own stock. After fifty-eight years of foreign ownership, Atlanta Gas Light was back on its own.

By the 100th anniversary in 1956, the company was thriving. With the appointment of William L. Lee as president in 1961, a period of rapid growth began. Lee aggressively expanded the company's infrastructure and increased his sales efforts. During this period, the company changed its name to Georgia Natural Gas, reflecting the service it provided outside of the Atlanta metropolitan area, and adopted a stylized gas flame logo for its various divisions.

Atlanta Gas Light implemented a very successful Shining Light Award program in the early 1960s. Each winner of this community service award can choose where to place a light. Notable winners include Hank Aaron, Ivan Allen Sr., William B. Hartsfield, Bobby Jones, Bernie Marcus, Ralph McGill, Margaret Mitchell, and Robert Woodruff.

The company's growth and challenges paralleled those of Georgia during much of the 1960s and 1970s. The state's rapid growth provided the company with a ready pool of new customers. But in the seventies the gas industry was not immune to the national energy crisis. Historically low natural gas prices have hampered producer exploration, affecting proven supplies. The increase in usage combined with fewer new sources has resulted in price increases for consumers and major difficulties for Atlanta Gas Light. The company was forced to start charging for service calls and asked the Georgia Public Service Commission for several rate increases. By the 1980s the market had returned to equilibrium.

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By 1996 Atlanta Gas Light was again a division of a holding company. As Atlanta Gas Light grew, a parent company called AGL Resources was formed to serve as a holding company for the many companies under the Atlanta Gas Light and Georgia Natural Gas umbrellas and to allow for out-of-state expansion. The move also allowed Atlanta Gas Light to compete during deregulation, a trend sweeping the country.

In 1997 the Georgia General Assembly passed the Georgia Natural Gas Competition and Deregulation Act. Under this act, customers could choose to buy gas directly from one of several dealers that supplied the gas to Atlanta Gas Light, which continued to control and maintain the city's gas infrastructure. AGL Resources has its own gas marketing entity. By 2003 Atlanta Gas Light was the largest natural gas distributor in the Southeast, providing delivery service to more than 1.5 million customers throughout Georgia.

In February 1856 the Atlanta Gas Light Company was incorporated to supply gas lights to the city of Atlanta. One of the oldest companies in Georgia, Atlanta...

Atlanta Gas Light employees learn to read gas meters in 1942. During World War II, nearly half of the company's workforce left to serve in the military, and women were hired to continue providing service to Atlanta Gas customers Light, which grew to more than 123,000 by 1945.

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Atlanta Gas Light Company, founded in 1856, is today a division of AGL Resources, a natural gas distributor. Headquartered in Atlanta, AGL Resources operates six utility companies, including Atlanta Gas Light, in six states. Based in Flower Branch, Georgia, Clipper Petroleum is an 85-year petroleum marketer operating as a convenience store retailer, fast food retailer and wholesale fuel distributor. .

Clipper operates 26 convenience stores and 6 restaurants in Georgia and South Carolina under the CLIPPER, Circle M, Subway, Auntie Annie's, Cinnabon and Bojangles brands. Clipper also distributes fuel to independent dealers under the major oil brands BP, Exxon, Mobil, Shell, Chevron, Texaco, CITGO, and 76 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

At Clipper we therefore work for a "Commitment to Excellence".

Understanding Your Gas Bill

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