UGI Corp. acquires Mountaintop Energy, adding Mountaineer Gas as newest subsidiary

With completion and approval of a $540 million acquisition of Mountaintop Energy Holdings LLC this week, UGI Corporation officially added the West Virginia-based Mountaineer Gas Company under its umbrella as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Mountaineer is the largest local gas distribution company in West Virginia, and as such, its acquisition had required regulatory approval from the West Virginia Public Service Commission. The fully regulated company serves nearly 215,000 customers in the state, most of them residential, and oversees nearly 6,000 miles of distribution, transmission and gathering pipelines.

“We are very pleased to complete this important acquisition and expand our core utility operations in the mid-Atlantic region,” Roger Perreault, president and CEO of UGI, said. “This addition provides us with an opportunity to deliver safe, reliable, affordable, and environmentally responsible energy solutions to customers in West Virginia. We see significant opportunities to make regulated investments focused on long-term system enhancement and expand the reach of natural gas to both unserved and underserved areas. We are also pleased with this acquisition as it supports our strategy of delivering reliable earnings growth and rebalancing our portfolio.”

Upon acquisition, UGI — itself an operator of natural gas and electric utilities in Pennsylvania and West Virginia through various subsidiaries, along with midstream energy assets and distribution of liquefied petroleum gas domestically and internationally — appointed C. David Lokant the new president of Mountaineer. Previously, Lokant had served as Mountaineer’s COO and senior vice president.