SW Gas expands Arizona operation

Chris Jones

Monday, June 10, 2002 | 10:59 a.m.

Southwest Gas Corp. of Las Vegas said Friday it plans to buy Black Mountain Gas Co., a small Arizona subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy Inc.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Southwest Gas Spokesman Roger Buehrer said the move will allow the Las Vegas-based company to better serve its customers in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

"Our service territory already surrounded the natural gas (customers) served by Xcel (through Black Mountain Gas), so we're just going to incorporate its operations into our Central Arizona Division," Buehrer said.

Buehrer said the deal must still be approved by state and federal regulators. He said that process could take up to 12 months, although he expects the firm to receive approval in the next few months.

Southwest Gas serves about 1.4 million customers in Arizona, Nevada and California, the company said.

Black Mountain Gas (BMG) serves about 7,300 natural gas customers in several communities north of Phoenix. It also serves about 2,400 propane customers in Page, Ariz., and Cave Creek areas.

Buehrer said Southwest Gas hopes to retain BMG's approximately 35 employees.

Pat Culbert, spokesman for Xcel Energy, said BMG was a "very small" portion of Xcel's total operations. The subsidiary reported revenue of $9.2 million in 2001. During the same period, Xcel reported revenues of $2 billion from natural gas sales companywide.

Culbert said BMG was sold so Xcel could increase its focus on core markets.

Xcel Energy operates in 12 Western and Midwestern States and provides natural gas to 1.7 million customers through its regulated operating companies. In addition, it provides energy to 3.2 million customers.