Exhibit 99.a

04-23
For further information:
John F. Walsh
Director of Investor Relations
Southern Union Company
570-829-8662

                          HERBERT H. JACOBI ELECTED TO
                    SOUTHERN UNION COMPANY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

     WILKES-BARRE,  Pa. - (BUSINESS  WIRE) - December  1, 2004 - Southern  Union
Company ("Southern Union" or the "Company") (NYSE: SUG) announced that effective
today  Herbert H. Jacobi,  70, has been  elected to its Board of Directors  (the
"Board").  A Class  III  director,  Jacobi  will  serve in such  capacity  until
Southern  Union's next annual meeting of  shareholders.  The Board has appointed
Jacobi to serve as a member of its Compensation and Audit Committees.
     Southern Union chairman George L. Lindemann stated,  "We welcome Mr. Jacobi
to our Company and to our Board. His business  experience and knowledge are vast
and we are extremely  pleased with the value he brings.  I have no doubt that he
will serve our shareholders well."
     Since 1998,  Jacobi has served as chairman of the Supervisory Board of HSBC
Trinkaus & Burkhardt  KgaA, a pre-eminent  German  private bank  established  in
1785.  Prior to being  elected to this  position,  he had been  chairman  of the
managing  partners of the bank for nearly 17 years. He also held positions since
1995 as non-executive director of the Midland Bank plc, London, and from 1996 to
1998 as group general manager of the HSBC Group.
     In  addition  to his new  position  on  Southern  Union's  Board,  Jacobi's
external  appointments  include  board  memberships  with the Gillette  Company,
Boston,  and  Deutsche  Investors'  Capital AG,  Dusseldorf,  among  others.  He
continues  to serve as honorary  president  of the  German-American  Association
Stuben-Schurz e.V.
     Jacobi began his banking career as an economist with Deutsche Bank in 1961.
He joined Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, in 1964,  becoming general manager and
chief  executive for their German  branches in 1970, and area director,  Central
Europe, in 1972. In 1975, he was appointed  executive vice president,  corporate
banking. He served as managing partner at BHF-Bank,  Frankfurt,  from 1977 until
October 1981, when he joined HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt.
     Jacobi  studied  at  Rutgers  University,  New York  University  and at the
universities   of  Frankfurt   and  Mainz,   obtaining  a  graduate   degree  in
International Economics.
     He resides in Palm Beach,  Fla., with his wife,  Eva-Maria.

About Southern Union Company
----------------------------
     Southern  Union Company,  headquartered  in  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa., is engaged
primarily in the transportation and distribution of natural gas.
     Through its  Panhandle  Energy  subsidiary,  the Company  owns and operates
Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company,  Trunkline Gas Company,  Sea Robin Pipeline
Company,  Southwest Gas Storage Company and Trunkline LNG Company - one of North
America's largest liquefied natural gas import terminals.  Through CCE Holdings,
LLC, a joint venture  partnership  with GE Commercial  Finance Energy  Financial
Services,  Southern  Union  also  owns  and  operates  the  CrossCountry  Energy
pipelines,  which include  Transwestern  Pipeline Company and 50% of Florida Gas
Transmission.  Collectively,  Southern Union's pipeline assets operate more than
18,000 miles of interstate  pipelines  that  transport  natural gas from the San
Juan, Anadarko and Permian Basins, the Rockies, the Gulf of Mexico,  Mobile Bay,
South Texas and the Panhandle  regions of Texas and Oklahoma to major markets in
the Southeast, West, Midwest and Great Lakes region.
     Through its local  distribution  companies,  Missouri Gas Energy, PG Energy
and New England  Gas  Company,  Southern  Union also  serves  approximately  one
million natural gas end-user customers in Missouri,  Pennsylvania,  Rhode Island
and Massachusetts.
     For further information, visit www.southernunionco.com.

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