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El Paso Corporation history
El Paso Corporation company history timeline
Paul Kayser, a young Houston attorney, founded El Paso Natural Gas in 1928.
In 1929, Kayser obtained a franchise from the El Paso City Council to sell natural gas to the city.
The Rio Grande Power Plant was built in 1929.
Hilton hotel mogul Conrad Hilton opened his first high-rise hotel in El Paso in 1930.
The company built new lines extending to the copper mining areas of southern Arizona and northern Mexico and in 1934 extended service to Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona.
El Paso Electric acquired Mesilla Valley Electric Company, which served Las Cruces, New Mexico, and its surrounding communities in 1940.
In addition to the company's growth, El Paso Electric began to operate again as an independent electric utility when its contractual agreement with the Stone and Webster Subsidiary Engineers Public Service Company ended in 1947.
Meanwhile, sales increased from $9 million to $41 million and net income climbed to a record $9 million in 1950.
By 1955, El Paso captured nearly $30 million in profits annually from about $180 million in sales.
The town was annexed by El Paso in 1955, though residents of Ysleta had voted against the merger.…
1957: Part of the operations of Pacific Northwest Pipeline Corporation are acquired.
It was made famous in a hit and award-winning song, named, of course, "El Paso," by the country star Marty Robbins in 1959.
In addition, a new division office was constructed in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1967.
El Paso Community College opened in 1969.
By 1969, the company had purchased seven percent interest in two of the five units at the Four Corners Generating Station, a coal-fired plant in Farmington, New Mexico, in the northwest corner of the state.
By 1974, non-gas operations contributed about one-third of El Paso's annual $1.3 billion in revenues.
The company's first rate increase, which was granted in 1974, helped fund the project.
As a sideline, the company formed a subsidiary called Franklin Land & Resources in 1977.
In 1981, El Paso reported record earnings of $147 million.
Under the Economic Recovery Act of 1981, Franklin could restore buildings and in return retain a significant amount of former tax money.
Although El Paso's sales rose to $4.3 billion in 1982, its net income dropped to $53 million.
The Burlington Purchase: 1983
The acquisition seemed like a good move, particularly in light of new federal legislation scheduled to take effect during the mid-1980s. Its business began to change in 1984.
Public Service Company of New Hampshire was the first, filing for Chapter 11 in 1988.
However, by January 7, 1990, El Paso Electric had decided to focus solely on its utility business and sold Franklin to DDG Investment Corporation.
As El Paso Electric pared down its activities, it signed a long-term agreement with the Republic of Mexico in 1991.
With $400 million in past-due loans and failed negotiations with creditors in November, El Paso Electric filed for Chapter 11 on January 8, 1992.
Most notably, the California gas market was becoming glutted, dampening profits in El Paso's most important region. It was the largest supplier of natural gas to the state of California and had successfully changed from merchant to transporter in compliance with new (1992) federal regulations.
Sales during 1993, its first full year of operation, topped $900 million, about $90 million of which was net income.
The company emerged from four years of bankruptcy on February 12, 1996.
Sales: $524 million (as reorganized company; February 12 to December 31, 1996)
El Paso acquired Tenneco Energy in 1996 in a $4 billion deal.
In 1996 the energy sources of the company consisted of about 53 percent nuclear fuel, 32 percent natural gas, seven percent coal, and eight percent purchased power.
The revenues from the CFE were planned to be lower than those for 1996, however.
Although El Paso Electric had high debt levels in 1996, it was focused on reducing its debt and enhancing its operations.
The Comision Federal de Electricidad de Mexico approved the utility's bid, and the company agreed to provide a range of 120 to 200 megawatts of power during 1997.
El Paso's next big move came in 1999 when it made a $6 billion play for Sonat Inc., a natural gas transporting and marketing firm.
1999: Sonat Inc. is purchased.
An August 2001 BusinessWeek article summed up the situation, reporting, "State and federal regulators are investigating charges that El Paso used its control of a key pipeline to sharply boost the price of natural gas flowing into the state.
The company changed its name to El Paso Corporation in 2001.
El Paso began to face significant challenges during 2001.
2001: The company buys Coastal Corporation in a $24 billion deal.
Over $3 billion in assets were jettisoned in 2003.
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El Paso Corporation competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ONE Gas | 2014 | $1.8B | 3,600 | 56 |
| White Star Petroleum | 2014 | $21.0M | 375 | - |
| Tourmaline Oil | 2008 | $1.3B | 100 | - |
| Brixton Energy | 2011 | $284.9K | 5 | - |
| Port of Seattle | 1911 | $76.0M | 2,150 | 22 |
| Contract Services Limited | 1974 | $580,000 | 10 | 48 |
| The International Air Cargo Association | 1960 | $2.0M | 18 | - |
| Association of American Railroads | 1934 | $63.8M | 99 | - |
| Puget Sound International | - | $1.6M | 30 | 48 |
| Port of Tacoma | 1918 | $19.0M | 237 | - |
El Paso Corporation history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of El Paso Corporation, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about El Paso Corporation. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at El Paso Corporation. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by El Paso Corporation. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of El Paso Corporation and its employees or that of Zippia.
El Paso Corporation may also be known as or be related to El Paso Corp, El Paso Corporation and El Paso LLC.