The Consumers' Gas Company was a Canadian gas distribution
utility
In economics, utility is a measure of a certain person's satisfaction from a certain state of the world. Over time, the term has been used with at least two meanings.
* In a normative context, utility refers to a goal or objective that we wish ...
that existed from 1848 to 2019. The company was founded as the Consumers' Gas Company of Toronto and was the city's main gas supplier. In 1957, reflecting its expansion beyond the city, "Toronto" was removed from its name. For the entirety of its history, Consumers' was Canada's largest gas distribution company.
In 1994, the Interprovincial Pipe Line Company (now
Enbridge
Enbridge Inc. is a multinational pipeline transport, pipeline and energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Enbridge owns and operates pipelines throughout Canada and the United States, transporting crude oil, natural gas, and n ...
) acquired an 85 per cent stake in Consumers', and in 1996 bought the remainder of the company. In 1998, Consumers' was renamed Enbridge Consumers Gas, and in 2002 became Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. On 1 January 2019, the company merged with
Union Gas to form Enbridge Gas Inc.
History
The company originally
manufactured gas
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the
secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...
from coal. This ended in 1954 when manufactured gas was replaced by
natural gas
Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
shipped by pipeline from western Canada.
In January 1980, it was announced that Consumers' Gas intended a friendly takeover of the distiller Hiram Walker-Gooderham & Worts Limited. On 9 April 1980, Consumers' and Walker completed their merger. A new holding company, Hiram Walker-Consumers Home Ltd. was created and would operate three wholly-owned subsidiaries: Hiram Walker-Gooderham & Worts, Consumers' Gas, and Home Oil. In February 1981, shareholders approved that the holding company be renamed Hiram Walker Resources Limited. In July 1981, HWR announced that it would sell between 10 and 15 percent of Consumers.' By the end of 1985, it had reduced its holdings to 83.5 per cent.
In December 1990,
British Gas
British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Serving ...
purchased Consumers' outright. The company paid C$915 million for the 82 per cent stake held by GW Utilities, and then paid $34 a share for the remaining 18 per cent of the company. For the foreign takeover to proceed, Investment Canada ruled that by the end of 1992, British Gas would have to sell off 15 per cent of the company to Canadians. British Gas made this sale in February 1992 for $170 million, thus reducing its holdings to 85 per cent.
In November 1993, the Interprovincial Pipe Line Company struck a tentative deal to purchase for C$1.2 billion the 85 per cent stake in Consumers' held by British Gas. The deal was approved by the Ontario government in June 1994. In January 1996, Interprovincial applied to the Ontario government to remove the requirement for a 15 per cent public float of common shares in Consumers'. The application was approved that summer, and in October, Interprovincial offered the shareholders of Consumers' $24.00 per share, or cash plus shares in IPL energy. The deal was completed on 11 December.
["IPL Energy offer," ''Financial Post'' (10 December 1996), 35.]
Leadership
President
#
Charles A. Berczy, 1847–1856
# Ezekiel F. Whittemore, 1856–1859
# Richard Yates, 1858–1867
# Edward H. Rutherford, 1867–1874
#
James Austin, 1874–1897
# Larratt W. Smith, 1897–1905
#
George R. R. Cockburn, 1905–1906
# John L. Blaikie, 1906–1912
#
Albert William Austin
Albert William Austin (27 March 1857 – 5 July 1934) was a Canadian businessman and golfer. The founder of Winnipeg's first streetcar system, he later served as president of Dominion Bank. He also founded the Lambton Golf and Country Club and r ...
, 1912–1934
# Arthur Hewitt, 1934–1936
# Thomas Bradshaw, 1936–1939
# Arthur L. Bishop, 1939–1960
# Oakah L. Jones, 1960–1971
# Joseph C. McCarthy, 1971–1975
# G. Edward Creber, 1975–1978
# J. Douglas Gibson, 1978–1979
# William P. Wilder, 1979–1981
# Robert W. Martin, 1981–1992
# Charles F. Safrance, 1992–1994
# Ronald D. Munkley, 1994–1997
# Rudy G. Riedl, 1997–2001
Chairman of the Board
# Arthur L. Bishop, 1960–1968
# Oakah L. Jones, 1968–1973
# J. Douglas Gibson, 1973–1980
# H. Clifford Hatch, 1980–1981
# William P. Wilder, 1981–1987
#
John Black Aird, 1987–1991
#
Robert S. K. Welch, 1991–1994
Company histories
* Edward J. Tucker. ''
Consumers' Gas Company of Toronto: 75th Birthday, 1848-1923''. Consumers' Gas Company of Toronto, 1923.
* Edward Phillips. ''First Century of Consumers' Gas''. Consumers' Gas Company, 1948.
* Consumers' Gas Company. ''A Tradition of Service: The Consumers Gas Story''. Consumers' Gas Company Limited, 1993.
References
1848 establishments in Canada West
2019 disestablishments in Ontario
Companies based in Toronto
Defunct oil and gas companies of Canada
Enbridge
Sources
* {{cite book, title=Gas Industry, publisher=Periodicals Publishing Company, issue=v. 18, year=1918, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZpfmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA289, language=, ref={{sfnref, Periodicals Publishing Company, 1918, access-date=2025-01-16