History of Bow River Gas Co-op

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Bow River Gas Co-op has been serving its members for over 50 years and continues to provide gas services to more than 1500 customers. Incorporated in 1965, the Bow River Gas Co-op provides gas utility service to parts of the County of Newell No.4, County of Vulcan, the MD of Taber, and the County of Lethbridge, covering more than 1565 sq. miles. The first few years were rough for the Co-op because of the many canals that had to be traversed; however, the Co-op survived and by 1985 began to make a profit for the members. In 2012 while continuing to improve the gas distribution network, the Bow River Gas Co-op amalgamated with the SR&B Gas Co-op to continue to provide safe, efficient, reliable and reasonably priced gas to all the members.

All natural gas that is consumed by the gas Co-ops across the province since the inception of the Rural Gas Act has been purchased through a government agency called Gas Alberta. In 1998, the government was getting out of the business of doing business and privatized Gas Alberta. Gas Alberta is a wholly owned corporation with all of the Gas Co-ops, some small municipalities and native bands as the shareholders. Gas Alberta is now operated by the shareholders and purchases all the gas that the shareholders use from the market.

At the same time that Gas Alberta was privatized, the corporation also became responsible for the delivery of Mercaptan (odorant) to the more than 500 gas sales stations across the province. The decision was made to operate and deliver the Mercaptan in house and three of the Gas Alberta shareholders applied to complete the deliveries. The Bow River Gas Co-op was chosen to house the bulk odorant station and complete the deliveries for Southern Alberta. We also deliver to a mini bulk stations in Northern Alberta that serves the Northern half of the province. In 2012 it became apparent that there was a demand for industrial contracts, along with the oil and gas industry Mercaptan sales. Gas Alberta in conjunction with the Federation of Alberta Gas Co-ops and the three odorant providers adopted the trade name of Alberta Odorant Services and now operate under this name. Please refer to the section on Services provided for more information.

Approximately 20 years ago the Bow River Gas Co-ops Board of Directors saw a need within our franchise area to provide gas fitting services. The Bow River Gas Co-op provides this service to our members, domestic customers and industrial users. Please refer to the section on Services provided for more information.