Wenner Gas Company

Carl, Pat, and Jim Wenner own and operate Wenner Gas Company Inc. and The Wenner Company.  The Wenner Company includes a Do It Best Hardware Store in Cold Spring, MN and Wenner Funeral Homes in Cold Spring and Richmond, MN.  They have also partnered with CHS to own and operate Rockville Propane Terminal. 

Wenner Gas Company is a family-owned, locally operated supplier of propane serving hundreds of residential, farm and industry customers in the Central Minnesota area.  Our goal is to provide exceptional customer service and dependability, while maintaining the highest safety standards in the industry.  We offer the convenience of multiple payment options, accommodating service plans and our highly skilled service technicians are always on hand ready to answer your propane questions.  With over 75 years of service to our local community, we treat our customers like friends and neighbors, because that is what they are.

History

In the early 1940’s, The Wenner Company, Inc. in Cold Spring, MN, operated by Carl A. Wenner and his brother Marc, partnered with other hardware store owners in central Minnesota to create Falls Gas Company.  They bought land along the Burlington Northern right of way in Little Falls, MN, built a siding, and installed equipment to unload railcars into two 18,000 gallon storage tanks.  The idea was to deliver 100 pound cylinders of propane to their customers for cooking and water heating.  The Wenner Company owned land along the Burlington Northern tracks in Cold Spring they used to unload railcars of coal for home heating.  Every week they would use their one ton International truck to pick up cylinders at the stores in Richmond, Albany, St Joseph, etc., on the way to Little Falls to fill cylinders.  Falls Gas Company grew as people began replacing their coal furnaces with the economical, and clean burning propane furnaces.  When Minnegasco began piping cities like St. Cloud, Little Falls, Brainerd, and others with Natural Gas, Falls Gas Company members wanted out and the company began to shrink.  Carl’s two sons, Charles and John Wenner, then owners of The Wenner Company, bought Falls Gas Company from the rest of the members in the mid 1970’s and in 1978 they moved the storage tanks and equipment to their rail siding in Cold Spring.  Wenner-B Carl, Kelly and Pat Wenner  In 1979, Charles’ oldest son Carl J. Wenner, graduated from college and went to work for the company.  At the time, there were less than 40 bulk gas customers, and Carl could make the rounds to all of the customers in about a week.  The rest of the time he worked in the hardware store.  As the gas company began to grow in the 1980’s, Charles and John separated the gas company from the hardware store and created Wenner Gas Company, Inc.  The company now delivers propane to over 1500 bulk customers, “and we still deliver 100 pound cylinders to the cabins in the area”, says Carl.  In 2009, with the pending loss of rail service to Cold Spring, and the advent of the Rocori Trail, the current owners of  The Wenner Company and Wenner Gas Company, Inc. (Charles’ sons: Carl, Pat, and Jim) built Wenner Gas Terminal in Rockville, MN.  In 2013, seeing the need to expand the Terminal and guarantee the supply of propane in Central MN, the brothers sold part of the Terminal to Central Harvest States (CHS) to form Rockville Propane Terminal, LLC.  The terminal was expanded in 2014 to unload up to 10 railcars at a time and has a storage capacity of 620,000 gallons.

Go Green

Propane is recognized as a ‘green’ energy, which means it cuts emissions and protects the environment. Propane is non-toxic, non-caustic and will not create an environmental hazard as a liquid or vapor into water or soil.  In today’s world, the push for green energy is becoming the standard and Wenner Gas Company is proud to be at the forefront of this movement.

Service Area

Wenner Propane serves residential, commercial industry, farm/agricultural customers throughout the Central Minnesota area, including ,but not limited to the Minnesota cites of Cold Spring, Richmond, Rockville, Avon, Albany, St. Joseph, Paynesville, Melrose, St. Nicholas, Collegeville, Eden Valley and Watkins.  We look forward to being your propane company for generations to come.

Residential

Propane is stored in liquid form in many different sized tanks.  As a new customer, Wenner Gas Company will work with you to determine the optimal tank size for your living or work space.  When determining what size tank you will need for your space.

Commercial

Wenner Gas Company is an active member in good standing with the NPGA (National Propane Gas Association) and the MPA (Minnesota Propane Association).  Our president, Carl Wenner, has held many stations of office with the MPA since taking over the business in 1984.  This allows us to keep up to date with all the code and governmental regulations and requirements.  We are also able to partner with companies large and small.  Wenner Gas Company can assist and help determine what commercial propane uses your company can best benefit from now and in the future.  We can help your business grow just as we have helped hundreds of businesses over the last 75 years.