Page 85 - SWGas Annual Report 2015

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Southwest Gas Corporation

In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and the related consolidated statements ofincome,
of comprehensive income, of cash flows and of equity and redeemable noncontrolling interest present fairly, in all
material respects, the financial position of Southwest Gas Corporation and its subsidiaries at December 31, 2015
and 2014, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended
December 31, 2015 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, e ective internal control over financial
reporting as of December 31, 2015, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework
(2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). The Company’s
management is responsible for these financial statements, for maintaining e ective internal control over financial
reporting and for its assessment of the e ectiveness ofinterna l control over financial reporting, included in the
accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express
opinions on these financial statements and on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our
integrated audits. We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable
assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement and whether e ective internal
control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audits of the financial statements
included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements,
assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the
overall financial statement presentation. Our audit ofinterna l control over financial reporting included obtaining an
understanding ofinterna l control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and
testing and evaluating the design and operating e ectiveness ofinterna l control based on the assessed risk. Our
audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We
believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.

As discussed in Note 12 to the Consolidated Financial Statements, the Company changed the manner in which it
classifies deferred income taxes in 2015.

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance
regarding the reliability o nancia l reporting and the preparation o nancia l statements for external purposes in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting
includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail,
accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable
assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation o nancia l statements in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made
only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable
assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the
company’s assets that could have a material e ect on the financial statements.

Southwest Gas Corporation