Declaring February 17th, 2011, as PGW Day in the City of Philadelphia to commemorate the 175th Anniversary of the founding of the Philadelphia Gas Works.

WHEREAS, On February 10, 1836, 46 natural gas lights along Second Street in Philadelphia were lit for the first time by employees of the newly formed Philadelphia Gas Works (“PGW”); and

WHEREAS, In 1926, the City of Philadelphia became one of the first cities in the United States to actively market and install natural gas hot water heaters to replace coal-fired hot water heaters; and

WHEREAS, In 1945, the single point ignition range was developed in PGW's laboratory, a first for the industry, to give thousands of customers the ability to conveniently light their burners; and

WHEREAS, In 1955, the Northern Liberties Gas Company became the last of ten independent gas companies to merge with PGW; and

WHEREAS, In 1963, the last 24 gas street lights on Independence Mall, in addition to 1.64 million customer appliances, were converted in six months to burn today's version of natural gas; and

WHEREAS, In the 1970's, PGW constructed two 12-story Liquefied Natural Gas storage tanks at its Richmond Plant. Today, they remain one of the country's largest and have saved customers hundreds of millions of dollars. Also during the 1970's, the City created the Philadelphia Facilities Management Corporation, a non-profit corporation, to manage and operate PGW; and

WHEREAS, In 1983, PGW won the American Gas Association's Merit Award for helping to start the Utility Emergency Services Fund to help low income customers pay their utility bills; and

WHEREAS, For the last decade, PGW has weathered challenging economic times and a changing customer base while laying the foundation to take advantage of our nation's emerging green energy market; and

WHEREAS, PGW is the largest municipally-owned gas utility in the country with a distribution system of approximately 6,000 miles of gas mains and services supplying approximately 500,000 customers; and

WHEREAS, The employees of PGW have dedicated themselves to safely and reliably operating the utility 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in the coldest of winter days and the hottest of summer months; and

WHEREAS, For 175 years, PGW and its employees have provided essential utility service to the residents and businesses of Philadelphia with a commitment to safety and service; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby declare February 17th, 2011, as PGW Day in the City of Philadelphia to commemorate the 175th Anniversary of the founding of the Philadelphia Gas Works.

FURTHER RESOLVED

, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to the Philadelphia Gas Works as evidence of the sincere sentiments of this legislative body.

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