Agway Sets Expansion of Retail Electric, Gas Business

During an earnings call, executives of Suburban Propane, the parent of Agway Energy Services, discussed the next markets for expansion of Agway's retail electric and natural gas business.

"The natural gas and electric business is a nice little niche business for us in New York and Pennsylvania. It's a good contributor to EBITDA ... we've been very successful just organically growing that business," said Michael Stivala, President and CEO of Suburban Propane

While Stivala did not see a lot of acquisition opportunities for Agway in the electricity and gas space, Stivala said that there are opportunities to grow the business into other states that "embrace" retail energy choice.

As previously reported, Agway recently received electric and natural gas licenses in Maryland, and Stivala said that Agway will be starting to market in Maryland shortly.

Stivala also identified New Jersey as another state which embraces retail choice. While Agway is not actively marketing in New Jersey yet, "I would say that that's probably a target market for us," Stivala said

"So I think we have some real good opportunities organically, and it's a nice little business for us," Stivala said

Suburban Propane's retail electric and gas segment recorded operating income of $5.45 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018, essentially flat versus the year-ago.

Suburban Propane's retail electric and gas segment recorded revenues of $20.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018, which was $1.2 million, or 6.0%, higher than the prior year.