The History of Citizens Gas

When established in 1958, Citizens Gas Utility District was headquartered in a building in downtown Oneida, serving a small customer base with only three full-time employees.

  As the utility began to grow in the 1960s, the office was moved to a block building on U.S. Highway 27 about three miles north of its present location in Helenwood. The utility remained there for 20 years before opening our new office in Helenwood, Tennessee, in September 1987.

  The current headquarters consists of 2,400 sq. ft. office space and an adjoining 3,200 sq. ft. shop building on U.S. Highway 27 in Helenwood. The opening of the new facilities in 1987 marked the start of rapid growth by Citizens Gas, as the availability of local gas made prospects for expansion into previously unserved areas of Scott and Morgan counties attractive.

  At that point, the utility had already experienced what it considered a major growth spurt, going from 1,377 customers on 120.5 miles of gas main in December 1980, to 3,600 customers on 274 miles of gas main in December 1987.

  But the real growth was yet to come. Citizens Gas Utility District’s customer base has grown from 3,600 to 9,600 in the two-county service area with a network of gas mains totaling 741 miles. The utility has added 700 new customers as it expanded into the propane business and is now serving residents and businesses in areas not served by natural gas lines.

  In 1993, Citizens Gas Utility District purchased the Indian Creek natural gas storage field in Morgan County. To insure an adequate supply of natural gas, the utility has in recent years reached out to suppliers in Campbell, Anderson and Fentress counties, and into the gas fields of southeastern Kentucky as well.

  Citizens Gas Today 

• 140 miles of 6 to 8 inch distribution lines, 203 miles of 3 to 4 inch distribution lines

• 408 miles of 3/4 to 2 inch distribution lines 

• 9,600 residential, commercial, and industrial customers for natural gas 

• 700 customers for propane 

• 1,054 square miles of service area in the two county area of Scott and Morgan Counties 

• a series of regulator stations to reduce pressure from 600 to 30 pounds 

• a series of compressor stations to raise pressure in gas mains • a series of filters, oil seperators, and dehydration units to clean up gas taken from local wells 

• a natural gas storage field (Indian Creek) and access to Lick Branch Storage Field which insures an abundant and easily accessible supply of natural gas for our customers 

• a propane air plant, and rented delivery space on the East Tennessee Natural Gas pipeline to supplement the local natural gas supply in periods of extremely cold weather 

• and a staff of highly trained employees certified in various functions for both natural gas and propane.