Southwest Gas latest firm to fire Andersen

Wednesday, May 29, 2002 | 10:49 a.m.

Southwest Gas Corp. announced Tuesday that it has dropped Arthur Andersen as its independent auditor and hired PricewaterhouseCoopers. The move by Southwest Gas, one of Andersen's largest non-gaming clients in Nevada, follows news that Andersen has closed its Las Vegas office.

Southwest's Employee Investment Plan also dropped Andersen and hired PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Both Southwest Gas and the investment plan said there were no unresolved, reportable disagreements with Andersen over accounting issues.

Southwest spokesman Roger Buehrer said the company was satisfied with its service from Andersen, which has audited the company since 1957. However, as the Enron scandal began to unfold, "credibility became an issue." The company began to monitor Andersen last year and decided at its annual meeting May 9 to dismiss the embattled accounting giant. PricewaterhouseCoopers was selected because the firm has an experienced utility division, Buehrer said.

Andersen received $330,000 in fees from Southwest Gas in 2001. Andersen's Los Angeles office handled the bulk of the account, though some Las Vegas staff also were involved, Buehrer said.

Arthur Andersen's Las Vegas practice was once the top accounting firm serving the gaming industry and employed as many as 100 people. Over the past several weeks, Andersen has lost the majority of its major gaming clients and employees to Deloitte & Touche. More recently, five top partners with decades of experience auditing gaming companies announced their move to Deloitte, which occupies offices in the same building as Andersen on Howard Hughes Parkway.

Representatives of Arthur Andersen refused to discuss the closure and referred calls to Deloitte's Las Vegas office. Andersen also declined to reveal its local client list.