UGI Corporation (formerly United Gas Improvement Corp.) is a natural gas and

electric power distribution Electric power distribution is the final stage in the delivery of electric power; it carries electricity from the transmission system to individual consumers. Distribution substations connect to the transmission system and lower the transmissi ...

company headquartered in

King of Prussia, Pennsylvania King of Prussia (also referred to as KOP) is a census-designated place in Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 22,028. The community took its unusual name in the 18th ...

, with extensive operations in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. UGI owns

AmeriGas AmeriGas Partners, L.P. is the largest retail propane distributor in the United States based on the volume of propane gallons distributed annually. It serves over 1.7 million residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, wholesale and motor ...

, the largest

propane Propane () is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used a ...

marketer in the United States. UGI also owns AvantiGas,

Antargaz UGI Corporation (formerly United Gas Improvement Corp.) is a natural gas and electric power distribution company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, with extensive operations in the United States and Europe. UGI owns AmeriGas, the la ...

and Flaga in Europe. UGI also operates interstate and intrastate transmission and

natural gas storage Natural gas is a commodity that can be stored for an indefinite period of time in natural gas storage facilities for later consumption. Usage Gas storage is principally used to meet load variations. Gas is injected into storage during periods o ...

assets in the

Marcellus Shale Marcellus may refer to: * Marcellus (name) * Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Roman commander Places * Marcellus, Lot-et-Garonne, France * Marcellus Township, Michigan ** Marcellus, Michigan, a village in Marcellus Township ** Marcellus Community Sch ...

History

UGI was incorporated in 1882 as United Gas Improvement Co. In 1903, the company owned the majority of the stock of the Equitable Illuminating Gas Light Company, which operated the

Philadelphia Gas Works Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) is the United States' largest municipally owned natural gas utility. Construction was completed by engineer Samuel V. Merrick on January 22, 1838, and operations continued from the 1800s to the present day. History ...

. The company formed the United Electric Company of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in 1899. United Electric consolidated several electric and lighting utilities into a single

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

Public Service Corporation The Public Service Corporation (PSC) was an energy and transportation company in New Jersey. It was formed to shore up financing and development of New Jersey's streetcar and power companies at a time when they were growing but exhausting capital ...

of New Jersey took over United Electric in 1907. United Electric was ultimately merged into

Public Service Enterprise Group The Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) is a publicly traded diversified energy company headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey and was established in 1985 with a legacy dating back to 1903. The company's largest subsidiary is ...

. In October 1964, Industrial Gases, Inc., of

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, filed an

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

suit in

United States district court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

charging the company with attempting to eliminate competition in sales of bottled

gas in Pittsburgh. The Philadelphia Gas Works division of UGI challenged a ruling of the

Federal Power Commission The Federal Power Commission (FPC) was an independent commission of the United States government, originally organized on June 23, 1930, with five members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The FPC was originally created in 1 ...

. The FPC lowered the maximum price that natural gas producers could charge to $0.16 per of gas. This mandate was upheld by the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

in May 1968. In February 1968, the company changed its name to UGI Corporation. In 1993, through its

subsidiary, the company acquired Petrolane, which was in

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

. In 1999, the company offered to acquire

Unisource Worldwide Unisource Worldwide, Inc. is a subsidiary of Veritiv and is a distributor of printing paper, packaging equipment and supplies, and facility maintenance equipment and supplies. It also provides logistics services to other companies through its truc ...

, a distributor of office paper, but it was outbid by

Georgia-Pacific Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia, and is one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of tissue, pulp, paper, toilet and paper towel dispensers, packaging, building products and r ...

. On April 1, 2013, John Walsh succeeded Lon Greenberg as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

. In May 2015, the company acquired Totalgaz S.A.'s

liquefied petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane. LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cooking e ...

distribution operations in France for €423 million. In October 2017, the company acquired Totalgaz Italia, a

distribution business. In December 2018, the company acquired South Jersey Industries’s retail natural gas business. On August 1, 2019, the company acquired Columbia Midstream Group for approximately $1.275 billion. On August 21, 2019, the company acquired the portion of

that it did not already own. On July 10, 2020, the company acquired GHI Energy LLC, a Houston-based renewable natural gas company. On January 5, 2020, the company acquired ''Mountaineer Gas Company'' of West Virginia for $540 million.

Notable people

A. O. Granger Arthur Otis Granger (February 14, 1846July 30, 1914) was an American industrialist and soldier. He manufactured and installed gasworks in Philadelphia and served as general manager of the United Gas Improvement Company, before serving as presi ...

, UGI president

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ugi Corporation Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Electric power companies of the United States Natural gas companies of the United States Companies based in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania History of Philadelphia 1964 in law American companies established in 1882 1882 establishments in Pennsylvania