he industrial market for natural gas is the Rodney Dangerfield of gas markets, for it truly gets no respect. Since 1986, this segment has exhibited a 5 percent annual growth rate. Moreover, the segment has a relatively high load factor and relatively high unit revenues. However, the major marketing organizations generally ignore, or at best, half-heartedly serve the industrial market.
Rather than pursue industrial sales, the major marketing organizations focus their attention and resources on wholesale markets. In these markets, transaction volumes are greater and profits are perceived as substantially stronger. Industrial markets are viewed as requiring too much service for too little revenue to warrant investment of significant resources.
Paradoxically, when tested against reality, this characterization of the industrial market rings both true and false. Per-transaction volumes are generally smaller than the volumes associated with LDC sale transactions. On the other hand, there are the pervasive notions that all industrial customers want more service and are so price-sensitive that significant margins cannot be obtained. These notions are too simplistic. In some cases, the gulf between perception and