Company History
The History of Alagasco, an Energen Company
Alagasco has been providing reliable natural gas service in Alabama for more than 150 years.
A subsidiary of Energen Corporation, Alagasco traces its beginning to 1852 when the company was known as the Montgomery Gas Light Company. At the beginning, the company was responsible for providing street lighting in Montgomery, Alabama using manufactured gas.
Through a series of relocations, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and name changes Alabama Gas Company (Alagasco) emerged in 1948.
Alagasco is the largest natural gas distributor in the state and serves approximately 437,000 customers in over 200 Alabama cities, town and communities. More than 1,000 employees work in Alagasco’s offices across the state.
Municipal Acquisitions
Alagasco began an aggressive Municipal acquisitions program in 1985 with the purchase of the Green-Hale gas system. During the 16 years when Alagasco was actively purchasing municipal gas systems, the company added 23 systems across the state. Some of the municipal systems that joined the Alagasco family included: East Lauderdale to the north, Thomaston to the south, Phenix City to the east and Linden to the west.
Columbiana was the last system to sell to Alagasco. According to Allan Lowe, Mayor of Columbiana who was involved in the acquisition from the beginning, "I can honestly state that my entire experience with the Alagasco staff, from our initial contact to an ongoing relationship today, has been extremely positive and beneficial for our city."
Steve Rauch, former Mayor of Alabaster said, "Selling our gas system to Alagasco was one of the best decisions that we could have made. Alagasco had the resources to expand our system rapidly in order to keep up with our growth needs, which is something we could not have done."
Mutual Aid
Through its membership in the Southern Gas Association, Alagasco is an active participant in a mutual aid agreement with other natural gas utilities within the region.
A perfect example of how beneficial mutual aid agreements can be was in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts. Alagasco employees spent five weeks working in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi to help salvage the natural gas distribution system. Approximately 70 Alagasco employees left their homes and families to assist Bay St. Louis. At the end of five weeks, Alagasco’s employees were able to assist in saving 80 percent of Bay St. Louis’ natural gas system.
Significant Milestones
A company that is constantly working to provide superior customer service, Alagasco has been fortunate to be recognized for numerous accomplishments over the years! In the 1980s Alagasco was presented with the Presidential C-Flag award from President Ronald Reagan for its Operation Assist program. Over the course of six summers, Alagasco hired 1,000 low-income teenagers to weatherize the homes of 10,000 low-income customers.
In 1993, Alagasco was recognized in the New York Times best-selling book, The 100 Best Companies To Work For In America. The company also made the list in 1998 and 1999.
While all the awards and recognition have been celebrated, Alagasco employees take great pleasure in serving customers each and every day.
Community Involvement
Alagasco has a rich history of community involvement. There is a tradition of being active in the communities where employees live and work. Employees work in organized groups and as individuals to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods and the areas where Alagasco does business.
From large organizations like United Way, to smaller scale projects like local adopt-a-school programs, Alagasco employees volunteer a lot of their time helping others. There are corporate sponsored efforts and individual efforts where employees throughout the company serve on the boards of non-profit groups serving others.
In addition to volunteering time, Alagasco employees also make financial contributions to worthwhile groups. Through a matching gift program, financial contributions to qualifying groups get matched dollar for dollar so employees are able to double their financial contributions to organizations of their choice.
