Joe Varela

Joe Varela joined Southwest Gas Corporation (SWG) as a college intern in 1990. After graduating from The University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering, Joe began his full-time career at SWG in Operations. In 1998, Joe became an Industrial Gas Engineer in Key Account Management. There he supported the continued use of natural gas and promoted new uses with SWG’s commercial/industrial customers. Joe has negotiated service agreements, and bypass rate agreements. In his current role as Energy Solutions manager, Joe focuses on economic development for SWG through the promotion of emerging natural gas technologies such as compressed natural gas, renewable natural gas and combined heat and power. Joe also oversees SWG’s new Utility Energy Service Contract (UESC) program that is moving the company into new areas of service that could result in significant increased margin for the company. Joe was part of a team that pursued and received approval from the Arizona Corporation Commission for a compression tariff and a renewable natural gas tariff.
Joe holds an MBA from the University of Arizona. His industry experiences combine operations, sales, regulatory, public affairs and customer management.