Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE: SWX) is an investor-owned utility based in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The company provides natural gas service to more than 1.8 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in parts of Arizona, Nevada, and California.
The company was founded in Barstow, California, in 1931, and soon expanded to the nearby town of Victorville. Natural gas was brought into southern Nevada in 1953, and Southwest Gas began service to the burgeoning communities of Las Vegas and Hendersron the following year.
On January 24, 1956, Southwest Gas Corporation became a publicly owned company. Expansion into Arizona occurred in 1957 with the acquisition of Natural Gas Service of Arizona.
In 1963, with the completion of a 250-mile pipeline in northern Nevada, the company was able to grow once again by extending its service territory to include Carson City. Several years later it began serving customers as far west as Elko in the northern part of the state. Expansion also occurred during this time in California with expansion from its Victorville operations to Big Bear.
During the next several decades the company made several more acquisitions and expanded in parts of its tri-state service territory. In 1979, the purchase of the gas system of what is now Tucson Electric Power, and the 1984 purchase of the gas system of Arizona Public Service Company, added the Phoenix area to the company’s customer base. During a time of unprecedented growth in the desert Southwest, Southwest Gas was serving some of the fastest-growing areas in the country. In 2005, the company acquired service territory in South Lake Tahoe enabling it to serve customers contiguously around Lake Tahoe in California and Nevada. The company is the largest distributor of natural gas in Arizona and Nevada.
Southwest Gas actively participates in industry initiatives that promote safety in the natural gas industry and strongly supports measures that promote the wise and efficient use of energy. The company received a 2010 ENERGY STAR Leadership in Housing Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and throughout the years has received numerous awards acknowledging its safety standards and practices.
To support energy efficiency measures, the company has also implemented its Smarter Greener Better campaign to educate customers about the wise use of energy and to provide them with information that enables them to take advantage of money-saving programs related to energy efficiency. With a keen understanding of the need for a reliable energy future, Southwest Gas continues to work with policymakers and regulators to ensure that steps are also taken to best prepare for an energy efficient, low-carbon future.
The company’s employees – “Southwesters” – as they refer to themselves are also hard at work in their communities, standing side-by-side with community leaders and their neighbors, to support a variety of volunteer, fund-raising and philanthropic endeavors. Southwesters are part of a nearly 80-year tradition of commitment to the communities they serve. The company’s investment in its communities comes through initiatives such as employee volunteer efforts through Blue – Building Lives Up Everywhere and its Fueling Good efforts that promote corporate philanthropic goals. Southwesters throughout the company’s operations in Arizona, California and Nevada are not only dedicated to the safe, reliable delivery of natural gas, but to their neighbors and their communities as well.