Chester County Natural Gas

We at Chester County Natural Gas Authority are pleased to have you in our community and glad to have you as customers. We appreciate the opportunity to serve you and look forward to a long and prosperous future. It is our hope we will not only become a part of your life, but also provide comfort and quality to your life. It is with this thought in mind that we strive to fulfill our mission of improving the welfare of the communities that we serve by providing quality natural gas service at competitive rates in a safe, environmentally clean and efficient manner.

The Authority is committed to accomplishing this Mission by:

• Managing our Business with the Highest Standards of Integrity and Fairness.
• Being an Innovative Leader in the Natural Gas Industry.
• Providing a Well Trained and Customer Oriented Work Force.
• Addressing the Needs of its Customers, Employees and Associates on a Timely Basis with Professionalism and Courtesy.

History of CCNGA  

The Chester County Natural Gas Authority was created on April 23, 1954 under Act 806 of the Acts and Joint Resolution of the State of South Carolina of 1954 and commenced the distribution of natural gas in 1957. The service area for the Authority is defined as being Chester County, Lockhart School District in Union County, and the Mitford and Blackstock area in Fairfield County.  A five member Board of Directors governs the Authority. Members of the Board are appointed by the Governor of South Carolina: Two upon recommendation of the legislative delegation in the county, two upon recommendation from the City of Chester and one upon recommendation from the Town of Great Falls. Each director serves for a term of six years and can be reappointed. The Board of Directors is not active in the day-to-day management of the Gas Authority.

Why Natural Gas

Natural gas is a combustible, gaseous mixture of simple hydrocarbon compounds, usually found in deep underground reservoirs formed by porous rock. Natural gas is a fossil fuel composed almost entirely of methane, but does contain small amounts of other gases, including ethane, propane, butane and pentane. Methane is composed of a molecule of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms.  Natural gas is used extensively in residential, commercial and industrial applications. It is the dominant energy used for home heating with about 55 percent of American homes using gas. In 1998, there were more than 1 million new residential natural gas customers, increasing the nationwide total to about 56 million homes. The use of natural gas is also rapidly increasing in electric power generation and cooling, and as a transportation fuel.  Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel, producing primarily carbon dioxide, water vapor and small amounts of nitrogen oxides. Other fossil fuels are coal and oil, which together with natural gas, account for about 88 percent of U.S. energy consumption.  Currently, oil provides the largest share of U.S. energy consumption - about 41 percent of the entire market. Natural gas provides about 24 percent, coal 23 percent, hydropower 4 percent and nuclear power 8 percent. However, about one-half of the oil Americans use is imported. In contrast, 85 percent of the natural gas U.S. consumers use is produced domestically. The remaining 15 percent primarily comes from Canada via pipeline.  Natural gas, like other forms of heat energy, is measured in British thermal units or Btu. One Btu is equivalent to the heat needed to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit at atmosphere pressure.