MENTOR, Ohio, July 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Gas Natural Inc.
(NYSE MKT: EGAS) ("Gas Natural" or the "Company"), a holding
company operating local natural gas utility companies serving
approximately 73,000 customers in seven states, today announced
that Kevin J. Degenstein will join
Gas Natural as its Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance
Officer effective August 1,
2014. He will have operational and regulatory oversight of
the Company's operating subsidiaries including Energy West,
Frontier Natural Gas, Bangor Natural Gas and Orwell Natural Gas,
among others.
Mr. Gregory J. Osborne, President
and Chief Executive Officer of Gas Natural, commented, "We are
thrilled to have Kevin back as an integral member of our executive
management team. His more than 30 years of gas utility
industry experience, including the previous seven years he was with
Gas Natural, validates Kevin as the ideal person for these critical
roles. He will be the face with our regulatory
commissions. His knowledge of the utility sector, experience
working with regulatory bodies for many years, and his stellar
reputation and ongoing accountability in this industry make him the
perfect candidate for these positions. His addition
solidifies our senior management team, giving us further bench
strength to drive our efforts and execute our strategic growth
plan."
Mr. Degenstein, 55, has served in the natural gas utility
industry in executive management, operations, engineering and
regulatory capacities over the last 32 years. Most recently,
he was president and chief operating officer of Gas Natural from
June 2008 until November 2013, when he departed the
Company. He joined Gas Natural in 2006 as senior vice
president of operations. Previously, Mr. Degenstein was with
EN Engineering, an engineering consulting firm, as vice president
of distribution from 2002 until 2003 and vice president of
technology from 2004 until 2006. He began his natural gas
utility career in 1982 with Nicor Gas where he held various
increasingly challenging operations roles, including chief
engineer. Mr. Degenstein is a Registered Professional Engineer.
Mr. Degenstein added, "I believe Gas Natural has tremendous
opportunity to continue to expand and deliver long-term earnings
growth. The recent changes in leadership have given me
renewed confidence and drew me back to the Company. I'm
excited to participate in the good work that the Company is doing
and to help take it to new levels. We are strengthening our
internal processes and procedures, improving our standing with
regulators and driving strategic and profitable growth for the
benefit of all of our stakeholders."
Mr. W. Gene Argo, Chairman of the
Board of Gas Natural, concluded, "The Board has a tremendous amount
of respect for Kevin and the expertise he brings back to the
Company. His addition to the senior leadership team further
enhances confidence in our ability to execute our multifaceted
strategic growth plan."
About Gas Natural Inc.
Gas Natural Inc., a holding
company, distributes and sells natural gas to end-use residential,
commercial, and industrial customers. It distributes
approximately 36 billion cubic feet of natural gas to approximately
73,000 customers through regulated utilities operating in
Montana, Wyoming, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maine, North
Carolina and Kentucky. The Company's other operations
include interstate pipeline, natural gas production and natural gas
marketing. The Company's Montana public utility was originally
incorporated in 1909. Its strategy for growth is to expand
throughput in the Maine and
North Carolina markets while
looking for acquisitions that are either adjacent to its existing
utilities or in under saturated markets. Gas Natural Inc.
regularly posts information on its website at www.egas.net.
Safe Harbor Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
The Company is including the following
cautionary statement in this release to make applicable and to take
advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for any forward-looking statements
made by, or on behalf of, Gas Natural Inc. Forward-looking
statements are all statements other than statements of historical
fact, including, without limitation, those that are identified by
the use of the words "anticipates," "estimates," "expects,"
"intends," "plans," "predicts," "believes" and similar expressions.
Such statements are inherently subject to a variety of risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those expressed. Factors that may affect forward-looking
statements and the Company's business generally include but are not
limited to the Company's ability to successfully integrate the
operations of the companies it has recently acquired and consummate
additional acquisitions, the Company's continued ability to make
dividend payments, the Company's ability to implement its business
plan, fluctuating energy commodity prices, the possibility that
regulators may not permit the Company to pass through all of its
increased costs to its customers, changes in the utility regulatory
environment, wholesale and retail competition, the Company's
ability to satisfy its debt obligations, including compliance with
financial covenants, weather conditions, litigation risks, and
various other matters, many of which are beyond the Company's
control, the risk factors and cautionary statements made in the
Company's public filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, and other factors that the Company is currently unable
to identify or quantify, but may exist in the future. Gas Natural
Inc. expressly undertakes no obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in
Gas Natural Inc.'s expectations with regard thereto or any change
in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement
is based.
For more information contact:
Gas Natural
Inc.
|
Investor
Relations
|
James E. Sprague,
Chief Financial Officer
|
Deborah K. Pawlowski
or Karen Howard, Kei Advisors LLC
|
Phone: (440)
974-3770
|
Phone: (716)
843-3908 / (716) 843-3942
|
Email:
jsprague@egas.net
|
Email:
dpawlowski@keiadvisors.com / khoward@keiadvisors.com
|
SOURCE Gas Natural Inc.