The history of WGL Holdings dates back more than 165 years when Congress granted Washington Gas Light Company a charter to operate as Washington, D.C.’s first natural gas provider. Today, Washington Gas is the largest business within the diversified energy company WGL, serving approximately 1.1 million customers in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia with natural gas services.

WGL’s portfolio also includes WGL Energy and WGL Midstream. WGL Energy includes a distributed generation business that designs, builds, operates and owns on-site energy systems including solar, combined heat and power or hybrid, fuel cell and other clean technologies mainly for commercial, campus and government accounts. WGL Energy’s retail services business offers natural gas, electricity, wind/renewable energy credits and carbon offsets to businesses and consumers in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania. 

WGL Midstream is a natural gas storage and transportation business serving the wholesale market.  

WGL serves more than 1.4 million residential, business, campus and government customers in the D.C. metropolitan area and around the country through a diverse portfolio of energy solutions that include natural gas, electricity, green power, carbon reduction, distributed generation and energy efficiency. A common goal of all WGL businesses is to make energy simple for customers and to have answers and solutions to their energy questions and challenges.  

“Through our corporate strategy and business development function, we look across the energy market to identify opportunities to drive growth by delivering increased value to our customers through new technologies, business structures and strategic alliances,” Senior Vice President Gautam Chandra says. 

Growth Strategy 

More than five years ago, WGL set a course for diversification and market expansion in response to dynamic change taking place in the industry. The organization’s growth is based on the belief that natural gas, renewable and distributed energy technologies will continue to gain favor in the coming years. Since 2009, WGL has been aggressively developing and investing in a portfolio of clean and efficient distributed energy solutions.  

“Distributed generation – what we offer as Distributed Impact solutions – represents a significant growth area within the industry,” Chandra says. “Distributed Impact solutions help organizations navigate fluctuating energy markets, efficiently plan their energy spend, consistently stay connected in times of crisis, increase sustainability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”  

WGL values the management of risk while also encouraging innovation. It was an early investor in solar, an early provider of fuel cells and a first mover on a recent legislative opportunity to expand its ability to serve natural gas distribution customers in Virginia. “We are willing to do the work to evaluate emerging opportunities and develop them into offerings that benefit our customers,” Chandra says.

WGL has made investments across its utility and non-utility businesses to expand markets and support Distributed Impact. These investments include programs to accelerate pipe replacement throughout its utility service territory as well as energy efficiency programs to educate customers about the many benefits of natural gas. 

“In addition, we have invested $520 million in distributed generation projects such as solar PV systems, combined heat and power plants, and natural gas fuel cells,” Chandra says. “We have also made important investments in WGL Midstream to capitalize on growing demand for natural gas. For example, late last year, we formed our first supply agreement with an overseas customer, the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), to sell up to 430,000 decatherms of gas per day over 20 years.”

The organization has also invested in the WGL brand, bringing in Dr. Louis Hutchinson as vice president and chief revenue officer. This new role is focused on company transformation, building WGL brand awareness and executing the vision for delivering Distributed Impact solutions. In 2015, WGL launched a re-branding initiative, positioning its family of businesses within a new framework to make it the “energy answers” company.  

Keeping Pace

WGL believes the development of its distributed generation systems business will continue to grow, offering economic, reliability and environmental benefits to businesses, consumers, campuses, military and government organizations. As of this year, WGL Energy had Distributed Impact investments in 16 states and the District of Columbia. 

“We will continue to invest in this portfolio as we strengthen our core natural gas utility business through upgraded infrastructure and seek to make additional investments that link our service area to the enormous gas reserves in neighboring states,” Chandra says.  

As the energy industry transforms, renewable energy will increasingly compete with traditional sources. Consumers of energy are becoming producers as well. Staying ahead of these dramatic shifts while balancing cost, reliability, security and environmental interests is WGL’s challenge and opportunity. 

“We have established a high bar as the energy answers company and we remain committed to delivering solutions that make energy not a burden, but rather an asset for our customers,” Chandra says. “It is an exciting time for everyone in the energy space, both consumers and providers, and we are committed to increasing the value we deliver to our customers in this dynamic industry.”