A Brief History of Grey Forest Utilities

Grey Forest Utilities (GFU) was founded in the fall of 1967 when the City of Grey Forest received a bond for the purpose of constructing a gas utility system. The elected officials of the City of Grey Forest at that time wanted to provide natural gas to the citizens of their community and in the process realized that they would also be able to serve other surrounding areas where natural gas was not readily available at that time.

Grey Forest Utilities owes its initial establishment and success to the vision of Grey Forest resident Jack Nottingham, the Grey Forest City Council, and a hand-full of citizens. Jack Nottingham’s dream of what a natural gas company could mean to Grey Forest and the surrounding communities was the driving force behind the utility’s success. Jack fought for the utility to succeed, working day and night early on as the Utility’s only employee. When the utility first started there were some very lean years, but Jack never lost hope or momentum, and his enthusiasm was contagious. At GFU’s annual meeting for 2007 Jack was presented the paid bond coupons for the original 1967 Bond that was retired at the end of 2007. Jack Nottingham sadly passed away in 2014, but his spirit and legacy are still alive and well at GFU today.

In 1980, Grey Forest City Council created a five-person Board of Trustees with the intent that the trustees would provide for the future growth and management of the utility. The Board of Trustees is responsible for ensuring the financial health of the utility and approves major decisions related to utility operations. The board also hires a General Manager of the utility who reports to the board and provides professional management of the utility on a day-to-day basis. Since 1980 various citizens from the City of Grey Forest and members of GFU’s greater San Antonio service area have served on the Board and provided guidance to GFU’s management. The trustees, both past and present, have worked to sustain the vision of Jack Nottingham and the other original supporters of the utility.

Grey Forest Utilities has been successful and grown steadily over the years, largely due to the personal approach we take in servicing our customers. One of our extraordinary qualities is one-on-one attention that we feel is crucial. We have avoided the frustrating telephone menus that other companies have adopted, and work to ensure that customers talk directly with one of our knowledgeable and caring customer service representatives. Our exemplary customer service continues in the field, as unlike other companies we do not schedule a range of times to meet with a customer or prospective customer. We understand your time is valuable, and we schedule a precise time for a meeting that is mutually convenient.

We proudly serve over 18,000 customers in metropolitan San Antonio and surrounding areas. Residential areas and communities we service include the Dominion, Alamo Ranch, Fair Oaks Ranch, Helotes, Leon Valley and others. Our reputation for service extends beyond residential customers. There are developers, builders and major engineering firms that have cited our organization as the utility company easiest to do business with and we strive to maintain that reputation. GFU has earned a reputation as being large enough to get a project completed quickly, yet small enough for each project to be a priority. A partial list of commercial and industrial customers include Walmart, NISD, HEB, Lifetime Fitness and Red Robin in The Rim, The Shops at La Cantera, Valero Headquarters, Martin Marietta Materials, Vulcan Materials and the Resort at La Cantera.

Grey Forest Utilities will never hold claim to be the largest natural gas utility company but every one of our employees has committed to make it the best utility provider for our customers.

Our goal is to always be “Real People Who Care”.