My selection of industri news » GAS UTILITIES

The Future is Bright for WGL

KV — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 03:35:51 +0000

Yet another natural gas company has announced an increase in their outlook for 2009. This time it is Washington, D.C.-based utility holding company WGL Holdings, Inc. Figures from February of this year states that the company projects an increase of $2.41 to $2.53 per share for 2009. These numbers went even higher in the company’s recent statement as they changed their prediction to a $2.53 to $2.65 increase per share.
How long should we expect this trend in the natural gas industry? It seems that the global financial crisis is not affecting these types of companies at all. In fact, their sales and profits are even growing. The question now is whether or not this is the right time to invest in these stocks, as it seems they have nowhere else to go but up.

Nicor Customers to Expect $2.50 Increase in Natural Gas Bills

KV — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 03:34:36 +0000

It looks like Nicor Inc. has won the battle in hiking up their natural gas prices as their requested rate hike was approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission last Wednesday, March 25, 2009. Starting April, Nicor customers should expect an increase of $2.50 to $3.00 on their monthly natural gas bills.
The consolation is that the approved increase is actually just half of what the company requested for last year. Nicor originally requested an increase of about $140 million, which was deemed too much by the commission. Instead they approved half of the said amount and set the increase at $69 million, a figure that they thought fitting based on the company’s current situation. This is a hard pill to swallow for a lot of people and the Citizens Utility Board of the state plan to appeal the court’s ruling.

Sempra Energy: Nowhere to Go But Up

KV — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 03:32:53 +0000

It seems that while the rest of the world continues to feel the effects of the financial crisis, gas utility companies are some of the select few that are not affected by the global situation. Testament to this fact is the recently released statement from Sempra Energy that they predict a further increase in their profits for the years to come.
The San Diego, California-based company announced that they project even more profits in 2010 compared to their already lucrative 2009 prediction. $5 to $5.25 is how much they think each of their shares will grow next year, which is already 15% higher than its outlook for 2009 which is at $4.35 to $4.60 increase per share. Sempra went further by stating their 2013 prediction of an increase of $5.65 to $5.95 per share. If only the rest of us were this well off.