Producer
Nicor Gas (Southern Company Gas)
Nicor Gas (Naperville IL; subsidiary of Southern Company Gas, itself subsidiary of Southern Company; NYSE: SO; one of the largest US natural gas distribution utilities) serves ~2.2 million customers in northern and central Illinois — the nation's second-largest corn-producing state. During fall harvest season (September-November), Nicor Gas coordinates with Panhandle Eastern, Rockies Express, and ANR Pipeline for additional capacity to serve the spike in grain drying demand from commercial grain elevators and large farm operations in central Illinois. Nicor Gas's service territory includes McLean County, Champaign County, and Sangamon County — counties in the heart of Illinois's 2.1-billion-bushel annual corn crop that require industrial-scale natural gas for post-harvest drying.
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Residential Natural Gas Distribution
65%Commercial & Industrial Gas
25%Agricultural Gas (Grain Drying)
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Did you know2024
Nicor Gas serves ~2.2 million customers in northern and central Illinois — the nation's second-largest corn-producing state. During the fall harvest season, Nicor's network carries natural gas to thousands of on-farm and commercial grain dryers that remove excess moisture from Illinois corn before storage, a critical step in preventing aflatoxin and spoilage that would render the corn unusable. A major Nicor outage during the 3-4 week fall harvest window — when dryers run continuously — would require farmers to sell wet corn at a steep discount, potentially leaving millions of bushels undryed and at risk. The home-heating utility and the food supply chain's grain storage logistics are co-dependent on Nicor's distribution network during the same fall period when utility demand is also rising from cooling weather.
Nicor Gas / Southern Company Gas ↗Origin2023
Nicor Gas traces to Northern Illinois Gas Company, which developed as a natural gas distributor serving northern Illinois in the mid-20th century. The company grew to be one of the largest US state gas utilities, acquired by Southern Company (the Atlanta-based southeastern US electric utility giant) for $4.4 billion in 2011. This acquisition made Southern Company — primarily known for operating Georgia Power, Alabama Power, and Mississippi Power — the owner of northern Illinois's natural gas infrastructure, connecting a southeastern US electricity utility to a Midwestern US natural gas supply chain serving one of America's most important corn-growing regions.
Nicor Gas / Southern Company Gas ↗