Gas Natural Inc. Receives Positive Outcome with Montana PSC Ruling

CLEVELAND, July 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Gas Natural Inc. (NYSE MKT: EGAS) (the "Company"), a holding company operating local natural gas utilities serving approximately 68,000 customers in six states, announced that it has received approval from the Montana Public Service Commission (MPSC) on its application related to dividend payments from its subsidiary Energy West, Incorporated (EWI), which operates a Montana-regulated public utility.  The MPSC has approved the Company's request for EWI to reinstate its regular monthly dividends to the Company.  

The MPSC also approved payment from EWI to the Company of a special dividend of $2.2 million from the proceeds from the sale of EWI subsidiary Energy West Wyoming and the assets of Energy West Development, which were completed on July 1, 2015.  The payment of the special dividend from EWI to the Company has been completed and a portion of the proceeds were used to repay the remaining $2.0 million balance on its $5 million bridge loan.

Gregory J. Osborne, Gas Natural's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "EWI's Montana operations consistently deliver excellent results and generate significant cash flows.  The cash position of EWI is at a level well above its current needs, making it prudent to reinstate the regular dividend to the holding company to redeploy for other corporate needs, including investments in growth opportunities.  Additionally, the favorable ruling is an important step toward refinancing our long-term debt and further strengthening our balance sheet." 

About Gas Natural Inc.
Gas Natural Inc., a holding company, distributes and sells natural gas to end-use residential, commercial, and industrial customers.  It distributes approximately 26 billion cubic feet of natural gas to approximately 68,000 customers through regulated utilities operating in Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maine, North Carolina and Kentucky.  The Company's other operations include interstate pipeline, natural gas production, and natural gas marketing.  The Company's Montana public utility was originally incorporated in 1909.  Its strategy for growth is to expand throughput in the Maine and North Carolina markets, while looking for acquisitions that are either adjacent to its existing utilities or in under saturated markets. 

Gas Natural Inc. regularly posts information on its website at www.egas.net.

Safe Harbor Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The Company is including the following cautionary statement in this release to make applicable and to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, Gas Natural Inc. Forward-looking statements are all statements other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, those that are identified by the use of the words "anticipates," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "predicts," "believes" and similar expressions. Such statements are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed. Factors that may affect forward-looking statements and the Company's business generally include but are not limited to the Company's ability to successfully integrate the operations of the companies it has recently acquired and consummate additional acquisitions, the Company's continued ability to make dividend payments, the Company's ability to implement its business plan, fluctuating energy commodity prices, the possibility that regulators may not permit the Company to pass through all of its increased costs to its customers, changes in the utility regulatory environment, wholesale and retail competition, the Company's ability to satisfy its debt obligations, including compliance with financial covenants, weather conditions, litigation risks, and various other matters, many of which are beyond the Company's control, the risk factors and cautionary statements made in the Company's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other factors that the Company is currently unable to identify or quantify, but may exist in the future. Gas Natural Inc. expressly undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Gas Natural Inc.'s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

SOURCE Gas Natural Inc.

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