Table of Contents

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 21, 2011

Registration No. 333-174803

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

Amendment No. 3
to

Form S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

USA COMPRESSION PARTNERS, LP
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

100 Congress Avenue, Suite 450
Austin, Texas 78701
(512) 473-2662
(Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Registrant's Principal Executive Offices)

J. Gregory Holloway
Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
100 Congress Avenue, Suite 450
Austin, Texas 78701
(512) 473-2662
(Name, Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent for Service)

        Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after this Registration Statement becomes effective.

        If any of the securities being registered on this form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box.    o

        If this form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.    o

        If this form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.    o

        If this form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.    o

        Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer" and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

        The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

---

Table of Contents

The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell nor does it seek an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

Subject to Completion, dated December 21, 2011

PROSPECTUS

USA Compression Partners, LP

Common Units

Representing Limited Partner Interests

        This is the initial public offering of our common units. We are offering            common units in this offering. No public market currently exists for our common units. We currently estimate that the initial public offering price will be between $            and $            per common unit. We intend to apply to list our common units on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "USAC".

        Investing in our common units involves risks. Please read "Risk Factors" beginning on page 21 of this prospectus.

        These risks include the following:

•

We may not have sufficient cash from operations following the establishment of cash reserves and payment of fees and expenses, including cost reimbursements to our general partner, to enable us to pay our minimum quarterly distributions to holders of our common units and subordinated units.



•

A long-term reduction in the demand for or production of natural gas or crude oil in the locations where we operate could adversely affect the demand for our services or the prices we charge for our services, which could result in a decrease in our revenues and cash available for distribution to our unitholders.



•

We have several key customers. The loss of any of these customers would result in a decrease in our revenues and cash available for distribution to our unitholders.



•

Holders of our common units have limited voting rights and are not entitled to elect our general partner or its directors.



•

Our general partner and its affiliates have conflicts of interest with us and limited fiduciary duties, and they may favor their own interests to the detriment of us and our common unitholders.



•

Our tax treatment depends on our status as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. If the Internal Revenue Service were to treat us as a corporation for federal income tax purposes, then our cash available for distribution to our unitholders would be substantially reduced.



•

Our unitholders' share of our income will be taxable to them for federal income tax purposes even if they do not receive any cash distributions from us.

        We have granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional            common units on the same terms and conditions as set forth above if the underwriters sell more than             common units in this offering.

        Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

        The underwriters expect to deliver the common units on or about            , 2011.

                    , 2011

---

Table of Contents

        [GRAPHIC]

---

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

i

---

Table of Contents

ii

---

Table of Contents

        You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus, any free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of us or any other information to which we have referred you in connection with this offering. We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized any other person to provide you with information different from that contained in this prospectus. Neither the delivery of this prospectus nor the sale of common units means that information contained in this prospectus is correct after the date of this prospectus. This prospectus is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the common units in any circumstances under which the offer or solicitation is unlawful.

        Until                        , 2011 (25 days after the date of this prospectus), all dealers that buy, sell or trade our common units, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealers' obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters and with respect to their unsold allotments or subscriptions.

iii

---

Table of Contents

SUMMARY

        This summary provides a brief overview of information contained elsewhere in this prospectus. This summary does not contain all of the information that you should consider before investing in our common units. You should read the entire prospectus carefully, including the historical and pro forma financial statements and the notes to those financial statements included in this prospectus. Unless indicated otherwise, the information presented in this prospectus assumes an initial public offering price of $           per common unit and that the underwriters' option to purchase additional common units is not exercised. You should read "Risk Factors" for more information about important risks that you should consider carefully before buying our common units. We include a glossary of some of the terms used in this prospectus as Appendix B.

        References in this prospectus to "USA Compression," "we," "our," "us," "the Partnership" or like terms refer to USA Compression Partners, LP and its wholly owned subsidiaries, including USA Compression Partners, LLC ("USAC Operating"). References to "USA Compression Holdings" refer to USA Compression Holdings, LLC, the owner of USA Compression GP, LLC, our general partner. References to "Riverstone" refer to Riverstone/Carlyle Global Energy and Power Fund IV, L.P., and affiliated entities, including Riverstone Holdings LLC.

Overview

        We are a growth-oriented Delaware limited partnership and, based on management's significant experience in the industry, we believe we are one of the largest independent providers of compression services in the U.S. in terms of available compression unit horsepower. We employ a customer-focused business philosophy in partnering with our diverse customer base, which is comprised of producers, processors, gatherers and transporters of natural gas. Natural gas compression, a mechanical process whereby natural gas is compressed to a smaller volume resulting in a higher pressure, is an essential part of the production and transportation of natural gas. As part of our services, we engineer, design, operate, service and repair our compression units and maintain related support inventory and equipment. The compression units in our modern fleet are designed to be easily adaptable to fit our customers' dynamic compression requirements. By focusing on the needs of our customers and by providing them with reliable and flexible compression services, we are able to develop long-term relationships, which lead to more stable cash flows for our unitholders. We have been providing compression services since 1998. As of September 30, 2011, we had over 711,000 of available horsepower and approximately 52,000 of new compression unit horsepower on order for delivery primarily between January 2012 and March 2012. We ordered an additional 4,400 horsepower in October 2011 for delivery during this same period. In November 2011, we ordered approximately 88,700 of additional new compression horsepower, of which 24,200 horsepower is expected to be delivered between January 2012 and March 2012 and 64,500 horsepower is expected to be delivered between April 2012 and June 2012. From 2003 through the third quarter of 2011, we had an average fleet utilization of over 90% based on horsepower.

        We focus primarily on large-horsepower infrastructure applications. As of September 30, 2011, we estimate that over 90% of our revenue generating horsepower was deployed in large-volume gathering systems, processing facilities and transportation applications. We utilize a modern fleet, with an average age of our compression units of five years. Our standard new-build compression unit is generally configured for multiple compression stages, allowing us to operate our units across a broad range of operating conditions. This flexibility allows us to enter into longer-term contracts and reduces the redeployment risk of our horsepower in the field. Our modern and standardized fleet, decentralized field-level operating structure and technical proficiency in predictive and preventive maintenance and overhaul operations have enabled us to achieve average service run times consistently above the levels required by our customers.

1

---

Table of Contents

        The following table provides a summary of our compression units by horsepower as of September 30, 2011 (including additional new compression unit horsepower on order for delivery primarily between January 2012 and March 2012):

        We generally provide compression services to our customers under long-term, fixed-fee contracts, with initial contract terms of up to five years. We typically continue to provide compression services to our customers beyond their initial contract terms, either through contract renewals or on a month-to-month basis. Our customers are typically required to pay our monthly fee even during periods of limited or disrupted natural gas flows, which enhances the stability and predictability of our cash flows. We are not directly exposed to natural gas price risk because we do not take title to the natural gas we compress and because the natural gas used as fuel by our compression units is supplied by our customers without cost to us.

        We provide compression services primarily in shale plays, including the Fayetteville, Marcellus, Woodford, Barnett, Eagle Ford and Haynesville shales. We believe compression services for shale production will increase in the future. According to the Annual Energy Outlook 2011 prepared by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, or EIA, natural gas production from shale formations will increase from 16% of total U.S. natural gas production in 2009 to 47% of total U.S. natural gas production in 2035. Not only are the production and transportation volumes in these and other shale plays increasing, but the geological and reservoir characteristics of these shales are also particularly attractive for compression services. The changes in production volume and pressure of shale plays over time result in a wider range of compression requirements than in conventional basins. We believe we are well-positioned to meet these changing operating conditions as a result of the flexibility of our compression units. While our business focus is largely compression serving shale plays, we also provide compression services in more mature conventional basins. These conventional basins require increasing amounts of compression as they age and pressures decline, which we believe will provide an additional source of stable and growing cash flows for our unitholders.

        For the year ended December 31, 2010, our business generated revenues, net income and net income before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and certain other adjustments, or Adjusted EBITDA, of $92.0 million, $10.5 million and $52.0 million, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2011, our business generated revenues, net income and Adjusted EBITDA of $70.3 million, $0.05 million and $36.9 million, respectively. Please read "—Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for an explanation of Adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP financial measure, and a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to its most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP.

2

---

Table of Contents

Natural Gas Compression Fundamentals

        Demand for our compression services is directly linked to the production and consumption of natural gas. We believe we will be able to build our business organically by capitalizing on the following positive long-term fundamentals for the domestic natural gas compression services industry:

•

Natural gas is a critical component of energy supply in the U.S., accounting for approximately 25% of all energy used in the U.S. in 2009, according to the EIA Annual Energy Outlook 2011.



•

The EIA forecasts in its Annual Energy Outlook 2011 that natural gas consumption in the U.S. will increase approximately 17% from 2009 to 2035.



•

New sources of natural gas are necessary not only to accommodate this increase in demand, but also to offset an established trend of declining production from maturing and aging basins that historically dominated U.S. natural gas production.



•

The EIA estimates that natural gas production from shale formations will increase from 16% of total U.S. natural gas production in 2009 to 47% of total U.S. natural gas production in 2035.



•

Due to the production profile of wells in these shale formations, producers are generally able to continue to produce natural gas economically across varying commodity price environments.



•

Natural gas producers, processors, gatherers and transporters have continued to outsource their natural gas compression requirements.



•

Outsourced compression services enable our customers to meet their changing compression needs more efficiently over time while limiting their capital investments in compression equipment and the cost of specialized employees.

Business Strategies

        Our principal business objective is to increase the quarterly cash distributions that we pay to our unitholders over time while ensuring the ongoing stability and growth of our business. We expect to achieve this objective by executing on the following strategies:

•

Capitalize on the increased need for natural gas compression in conventional and unconventional plays.  We expect additional demand for compression services to result from the continuing shift of natural gas production to domestic shale plays as well as the declining production pressures of aging conventional basins. Our fleet of modern, flexible compression units, which are capable of being rapidly deployed and redeployed and many of which are designed to operate in multiple compression stages, will enable us to capitalize on opportunities both in these emerging shale plays as well as conventional fields.



•

Continue to execute on attractive organic growth opportunities.  Between 2003 and 2010, we grew the horsepower in our fleet of compression units at a compound annual growth rate of 23% and grew our compression revenues at a compound annual growth rate of 27%, primarily through organic growth. We believe organic growth opportunities will continue to be our most attractive source of near-term growth. We seek to achieve continued organic growth by (i) increasing our business with existing customers, (ii) obtaining new customers in our existing areas of operations and (iii) expanding our operations into new geographic areas.



•

Partner with customers who have significant compression needs.  We actively seek to identify customers with major acreage positions in active and growing areas. We work with these customers to jointly develop long-term and adaptable solutions designed to optimize their lifecycle compression costs. We believe this is important in determining the overall economics of

3

---

Table of Contents

producing, gathering and transporting natural gas. Our proactive and collaborative approach positions us to serve as our customers' compression provider of choice.

•

Pursue accretive acquisition opportunities.  While our principal growth strategy will be to continue to grow organically, we may pursue accretive acquisition opportunities, including the acquisition of complementary businesses, participation in joint ventures or purchase of compression units from existing or new customers in conjunction with providing compression services to them. We will consider opportunities that (i) are in our existing geographic areas of operations or new, high-growth regions, (ii) meet internally established economic thresholds and (iii) may be financed on reasonable terms. We have reviewed potential acquisition opportunities in the past, and will continue to do so in the future, but to date have not actively pursued any acquisitions.



•

Maintain financial flexibility.  We intend to maintain financial flexibility to be able to take advantage of growth opportunities. Historically, we have utilized our cash flow from operations, borrowings under available debt facilities and operating leases to fund capital expenditures to expand our compression services business. This approach has allowed us to significantly grow our fleet and the amount of cash we generate, while maintaining our debt at levels we believe are manageable for our business. Pro forma for this offering, we will have $           million in borrowing capacity available under our revolving credit facility. We believe our financial flexibility positions us to take advantage of future growth opportunities without incurring debt beyond appropriate levels.

Competitive Strengths

        We believe that we are well positioned to successfully execute our business strategies and achieve our principal business objective because of the following competitive strengths:

•

Stable and growing fee-based cash flows.  We charge our customers a fixed monthly fee for our compression services, regardless of the volume of natural gas we compress in that month. Our contracts have initial terms of up to five years and typically extend beyond their initial contract terms, either through contract renewals or on a month-to-month basis. We believe the long-term nature of our fixed-fee contracts enhances our ability to generate stable cash flows and mitigates our exposure to short-term volatility in natural gas and crude oil commodity prices. Our focus on large-horsepower compression installations associated with large-volume gathering and transportation-related applications also mitigates our exposure to the higher volatility associated with smaller wellhead applications.



•

Modern and efficient large-horsepower compression fleet with multi-stage compression capabilities that can be rapidly and efficiently deployed or relocated.  We maintain and utilize a modern, flexible and reliable fleet of compression units to provide compression services. As of September 30, 2011, approximately 80% of our fleet by horsepower was comprised of units with greater than 500 horsepower. Our compression units are built on a standardized equipment package and have an average age of five years. Approximately 70% of our fleet by horsepower as of September 30, 2011 was comprised of convertible multi-stage compression units. The flexible configuration of our units enables us to quickly and effectively adapt to changing field conditions, allowing us to render our compression services across a broad range of operating conditions without the need to replace equipment. This adaptability results in lower downtime and operating costs for our customers, generally allowing us to obtain longer-term contracts and provide our compression services more efficiently within fields and across geographies.



•

Long-standing and strategic customer relationships.  We have developed long-standing and strategic customer relationships by consistently delivering outstanding service run time and superior service, and by effectively adapting to our customers' specific and continually changing compression needs. Our top ten customers, which accounted for 53% of our revenues for the

4

---

Table of Contents

year ended December 31, 2010, have contracted compression services from us for an average of nine years. Of these, five have been customers for over ten years and all have been customers for at least five years. These relationships provide a strong platform for continued organic growth as we respond to our customers' increasing and dynamic natural gas compression needs.

•

Broad geographic presence in key domestic markets.  Our primary business focus is providing compression services in high-growth shale plays where typically steep declines in production volumes and changes in production pressures require significant compression. We also provide compression services in more mature conventional basins that will require increasing amounts of compression as these fields age and pressures decline.



•

Experienced management team with a proven ability to deliver strong organic growth.  Our Chief Executive Officer, Eric D. Long, co-founded our company and has over 20 years of experience in the compression industry. The members of our management team have an average of over 25 years of experience in energy and service industries, and several key executive members of our sales and operating team have worked together for over 14 years. Our organic growth has resulted from our management's commitment to optimize compression lifecycle cost for our customers by delivering outstanding customer service.



•

Supportive sponsor with significant industry expertise.  Riverstone is the principal owner of our general partner. Riverstone has substantial experience as a private equity investor in master limited partnerships, with current or prior investments in the general partners or managing members of Buckeye Partners, L.P., Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P., Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. and Niska Gas Storage Partners LLC. Riverstone's management has substantial experience in identifying, evaluating, negotiating and financing acquisitions and investments. By providing us with strategic guidance and financial expertise, we believe our relationship with Riverstone will greatly enhance our ability to grow our asset base and cash flow.

        The compression services business is highly competitive. Some of our competitors have a broader geographic scope, as well as greater financial and other resources than we do. Smaller companies that compete with us may be able to more quickly adapt to changes within our industry and changes in economic conditions as a whole. Additionally, the current availability of attractive financing terms makes the purchase of individual compression units increasingly affordable to our customers. For further discussion of the risks that we face, please read "Risk Factors."

Recent Developments

        Prior to November 16, 2011, the revolving credit facility bore interest, at our election, at an alternate base rate, or at a rate ranging from 300 to 375 basis points above LIBOR (as defined in the credit agreement), depending on our leverage ratio. On November 16, 2011, we amended our revolving credit facility, which increased the overall commitments under the facility from $400 million to $500 million and reduced our applicable margin for LIBOR loans to a range of 200 to 275 basis points above LIBOR, depending on our leverage ratio. At November 30, 2011, the interest rate on amounts borrowed under the revolving credit facility was 3.0%.

        On December 15, 2011, we purchased all the compression units previously leased from Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation, which we refer to as Caterpillar, for $43 million and terminated all the lease schedules and covenants under the facility. This purchase was funded by additional borrowing under our revolving credit facility.

5

---

Table of Contents

Our Relationship with Riverstone

        Over 97% of the equity in USA Compression Holdings is owned by Riverstone, with the balance owned by our current officers and employees and a small, non-controlling investor. Riverstone, a global energy- and power-focused private equity firm founded in 2000, has approximately $17 billion of assets under management across six investment funds. Riverstone conducts buyout and growth capital investments in the midstream, exploration and production, energy services, power and renewable sectors of the energy industry. With offices in New York, London and Houston, Riverstone has committed approximately $15.9 billion to 78 investments in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. As the owner of our general partner, approximately       % of our outstanding common units, all of our subordinated units and all of our incentive distribution rights, USA Compression Holdings and Riverstone are incentivized to support and promote the successful execution of our business plan.

6

---

Table of Contents

Risk Factors

        An investment in our common units involves risks. Below is a summary of certain key risk factors that you should consider in evaluating an investment in our common units. This list is not exhaustive. Please read the full discussion of these risks and other risks described under "Risk Factors."

Risks Related to Our Business

•

We may not have sufficient cash from operations following the establishment of cash reserves and payment of fees and expenses, including cost reimbursements to our general partner, to enable us to pay our minimum quarterly distributions to holders of our common units and subordinated units.



•

The assumptions underlying our estimate of cash available for distribution described in "Our Cash Distribution Policy and Restrictions on Distributions" are inherently uncertain and subject to significant business, economic, financial, regulatory and competitive risks and uncertainties that could cause us to be unable to pay our minimum quarterly distributions to holders of our common units and subordinated units.



•

A long-term reduction in the demand for, or production of, natural gas or crude oil in the locations where we operate could adversely affect the demand for our services or the prices we charge for our services, which could result in a decrease in our revenues and cash available for distribution to our unitholders.



•

We have several key customers. The loss of any of these customers would result in a decrease in our revenues and cash available for distribution to our unitholders.



•

We face significant competition that may cause us to lose market share and reduce our ability to make distributions to our unitholders.



•

We depend on a limited number of suppliers and are vulnerable to product shortages and price increases, which could have a negative impact on our results of operations.



•

We are subject to substantial environmental regulation, and changes in these regulations could increase our costs or liabilities.

Risks Inherent in an Investment in Us

•

Holders of our common units have limited voting rights and are not entitled to elect our general partner or its directors.



•

Our general partner and its affiliates, including USA Compression Holdings, have conflicts of interest with us and limited fiduciary duties, and they may favor their own interests to the detriment of us and our common unitholders.



•

Our partnership agreement requires that we distribute all of our available cash, which could limit our ability to grow and make acquisitions.



•

You will experience immediate and substantial dilution in pro forma net tangible book value of $      per common unit.

Tax Risks to Common Unitholders

•

Our tax treatment depends on our status as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. If the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, were to treat us as a corporation for federal income tax purposes, which would subject us to entity-level taxation, then our cash available for distribution to our unitholders would be substantially reduced.



•

The tax treatment of publicly traded partnerships or an investment in our common units could be subject to potential legislative, judicial or administrative changes and differing interpretations, possibly on a retroactive basis.



•

Our unitholders' share of our income will be taxable to them for federal income tax purposes even if they do not receive any cash distributions from us.

7

---

Table of Contents

Partnership Structure and Offering-Related Transactions

        We were formed in 2008 as a Texas limited partnership and converted to a Delaware limited partnership in 2011. USA Compression Holdings, LLC currently holds all of our limited partner interests. In order to maximize operational flexibility, we will conduct our operations through subsidiaries. At or prior to the closing of this offering, the following transactions, which we refer to as the offering-related transactions, will occur:

•

we will convert the general partner interest held by USA Compression GP, LLC, our general partner, into a 2.0% general partner interest in us and our incentive distribution rights;



•

we will convert the limited partner interest held by USA Compression Holdings into    common units and       subordinated units, representing an aggregate      % limited partner interest in us;



•

we will receive net proceeds of $           million from the issuance and sale of        common units to the public, representing a        % limited partner interest in us;



•

we will use the net proceeds from this offering in the manner described in "Use of Proceeds"; and



•

we will amend our revolving credit facility and, after using the net proceeds from this offering in the manner described in "Use of Proceeds," will have $         million of long-term borrowing capacity available to us under this revolving credit facility.

8

---

Table of Contents

Organizational Structure After the Offering

        The following diagram depicts our organizational structure and ownership after giving effect to this offering and the related offering-related transactions.

9

---

Table of Contents

Our Management

        Our general partner has sole responsibility for conducting our business and for managing our operations and is controlled by USA Compression Holdings, which is controlled by Riverstone. Our general partner will not receive any management fee or other compensation in connection with the management of our business or this offering, but it will be entitled to reimbursement of all direct and indirect expenses incurred on our behalf, which we expect to be approximately $                        for the twelve months ending September 30, 2012. Our partnership agreement provides that our general partner will determine in good faith the expenses that are allocable to us.

        The board of directors of our general partner will initially be comprised of five members, all of whom will be designated by USA Compression Holdings and one of whom will be independent. In compliance with the rules of the New York Stock Exchange, a second independent director will be appointed to the board of directors of USA Compression GP, LLC within 90 days of listing and a third independent director will be appointed within twelve months of listing. Neither our general partner nor its board of directors will be elected by our unitholders. USA Compression Holdings is the sole member of our general partner and will have the right to appoint our general partner's entire board of directors, including the independent directors.

Principal Executive Offices and Internet Address

        Our principal executive offices are located at 100 Congress Avenue, Suite 450, Austin, Texas 78701 and our telephone number is (512) 473-2662. Our website is located at www.usacpartners.com and will be activated in connection with the closing of this offering. We will make our periodic reports and other information filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, available, free of charge, through our website, as soon as reasonably practicable after those reports and other information are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. Information on our website or any other website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus and does not constitute a part of this prospectus.

Summary of Conflicts of Interest and Fiduciary Duties

        Our general partner has a legal duty to manage us in a manner beneficial to our partners. This legal duty originates in statutes and judicial decisions and is commonly referred to as a "fiduciary duty." However, the officers and directors of our general partner also have fiduciary duties to manage our general partner in a manner beneficial to its owner, USA Compression Holdings. Certain of the officers and directors of our general partner are also officers and directors of USA Compression Holdings. As a result, conflicts of interest will arise in the future between us and holders of our common units, on the one hand, and USA Compression Holdings and our general partner, on the other hand. For example, our general partner will be entitled to make determinations that affect the amount of distributions we make to the holders of common and subordinated units, which in turn has an effect on whether our general partner receives incentive distributions.

        Our partnership agreement limits the liability of, and reduces the fiduciary duties owed by, our general partner to holders of our common units. Our partnership agreement also restricts the remedies available to holders of our common units for actions that might otherwise constitute a breach of our general partner's fiduciary duties. By purchasing a common unit, the purchaser agrees to be bound by the terms of our partnership agreement, and pursuant to the terms of our partnership agreement each holder of common units consents to various actions and potential conflicts of interest contemplated in the partnership agreement that might otherwise be considered a breach of fiduciary or other duties under applicable state law.

        For a more detailed description of the conflicts of interest and the fiduciary duties of our general partner, please read "Conflicts of Interest and Fiduciary Duties."

10

---

Table of Contents

The Offering

11

---

Table of Contents

12

---

Table of Contents

13

---

Table of Contents

14

---

Table of Contents

15

---

Table of Contents

Summary Historical and Pro Forma Financial and Operating Data

        The following table presents our summary historical financial and operating data and pro forma financial data for the periods and as of the dates presented. The following table should be read together with "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and the historical and pro forma financial statements and accompanying notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

        The summary historical financial and operating data has been prepared on the following basis:

•

the historical financial information as of December 31, 2009 and 2010 and for the years ended December 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010 is derived from our audited financial statements, which are included elsewhere in this prospectus;



•

the historical financial information as of December 31, 2008 is derived from our audited financial statements, which are not included in this prospectus; and



•

the historical financial information as of September 30, 2011 and for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2011 is derived from our unaudited financial statements, which are included elsewhere in this prospectus.

        We were acquired by USA Compression Holdings on December 23, 2010. In connection with this acquisition, our assets and liabilities were adjusted to fair value on the closing date by application of "push-down" accounting. Due to these adjustments, our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements are presented in two distinct periods to indicate the application of two different bases of accounting between the periods presented: (i) the periods prior to the acquisition date for accounting purposes, using a date of convenience of December 31, 2010, are identified as "Predecessor," and (ii) the periods from December 31, 2010 forward are identified as "Successor." Please read note 1 to our audited financial statements as of December 31, 2010 included elsewhere in this prospectus.

        The summary pro forma financial information for the year ended December 31, 2010 and as of and for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 is derived from our unaudited pro forma financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The pro forma adjustments have been prepared as if the transactions described below had taken place on September 30, 2011, in the case of the pro forma balance sheet, or as of January 1, 2010, in the case of the pro forma statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2010 and for the nine months ended September 30, 2011. These transactions include:

•

our sale to USA Compression Holdings on December 23, 2010 and the entry into an amendment to our revolving credit facility on that date;



•

the entry into the second amendment to our revolving credit facility on November 16, 2011;



•

the conversion of our limited partner interests held by USA Compression Holdings into                    of our common units and                    of our subordinated units;



•

the conversion of our general partner interest held by USA Compression GP, LLC, our general partner, into                     general partner units, representing a 2.0% general partner interest in us;



•

the issuance by us of all of our incentive distribution rights to USA Compression GP, LLC; and



•

the issuance by us of                    common units to the public in exchange for net proceeds of approximately $                 million, all of which will be used to repay indebtedness outstanding under our revolving credit facility.

        The pro forma financial information should not be considered as indicative of the historical results we would have had or the results we will have after this offering.

        The following table includes the non-GAAP financial measure of Adjusted EBITDA. We define Adjusted EBITDA as our net income before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation expense,

16

---

Table of Contents

impairment of compression equipment, share-based compensation expense, expenses under our operating lease with Caterpillar and certain fees and expenses related to our sale to USA Compression Holdings in 2010. For a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to its most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP, please read "—Non-GAAP Financial Measures."

17

---

Table of Contents

18

---

Table of Contents

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

        We include in this prospectus the non-GAAP financial measure of Adjusted EBITDA. We view Adjusted EBITDA as one of our primary management tools, and we track this item on a monthly basis both as an absolute amount and as a percentage of revenue compared to the prior month, year-to-date and prior year and to budget. We define Adjusted EBITDA as our net income before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation expense, impairment of compression equipment, share-based compensation expense, expenses under our operating lease with Caterpillar and certain fees and expenses related to our sale to USA Compression Holdings in 2010. Adjusted EBITDA is used as a supplemental financial measure by our management and external users of our financial statements, such as investors and commercial banks, to assess:

•

the financial performance of our assets without regard to the impact of financing methods, capital structure or historical cost basis of our assets;



•

the viability of capital expenditure projects and the overall rates of return on alternative investment opportunities;



•

the ability of our assets to generate cash sufficient to make debt payments and to make distributions; and



•

our operating performance as compared to those of other companies in our industry without regard to the impact of financing methods and capital structure.

        We believe that Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors because, when viewed with our GAAP results and the accompanying reconciliations, it provides a more complete understanding of our performance than GAAP results alone. We also believe that external users of our financial statements benefit from having access to the same financial measures that management uses in evaluating the results of our business.

        Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered an alternative to, or more meaningful than, net income, operating income, cash flows from operating activities or any other measure of financial performance presented in accordance with GAAP as measures of operating performance and liquidity. Moreover, our Adjusted EBITDA as presented may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

        Adjusted EBITDA does not include interest expense, income taxes, depreciation expense, impairment of compression equipment, share-based compensation expense, expenses under our operating lease with Caterpillar and certain fees and expenses related to our sale to USA Compression Holdings in December 2010. Because we borrow money under our revolving credit facility and have historically utilized operating leases to finance our operations, interest expense and operating lease expense are necessary elements of our costs. Because we use capital assets, depreciation and impairment of compression equipment is also a necessary element of our costs. Expense related to share-based compensation expense related to equity awards to employees is also necessary to operate our business. Therefore, measures that exclude these elements have material limitations. To compensate for these limitations, we believe that it is important to consider both net income and net cash provided by operating activities determined under GAAP, as well as Adjusted EBITDA, to evaluate our financial performance and our liquidity. Our Adjusted EBITDA excludes some, but not all, items that affect net income and net cash provided by operating activities, and these measures may vary among companies. Management compensates for the limitations of Adjusted EBITDA as an analytical tool by reviewing the comparable GAAP measures, understanding the differences between the measures and incorporating this knowledge into management's decision-making processes.

19

---

Table of Contents

        The following table reconciles Adjusted EBITDA to net income and net cash provided by operating activities, its most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, for each of the periods presented:

20

---

Table of Contents

RISK FACTORS

        Limited partner interests are inherently different from capital stock of a corporation, although many of the business risks to which we are subject are similar to those that would be faced by a corporation engaged in the compression services business. You should consider carefully the following risk factors together with all of the other information included in this prospectus in evaluating an investment in our common units.

        If any of the following risks were to occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected. In that case, we may be unable to pay the minimum quarterly distribution to our unitholders, the trading price of our common units could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business

We may not have sufficient cash from operations following the establishment of cash reserves and payment of fees and expenses, including cost reimbursements to our general partner, to enable us to pay our minimum quarterly distributions to holders of our common units and subordinated units.

        In order to pay our minimum quarterly distribution of $            per unit per quarter, or $            per unit per year, we will require available cash of approximately $             million per quarter, or approximately $             million per year, based on the number of common units, subordinated units and general partner units to be outstanding immediately after completion of this offering. Under our cash distribution policy, the amount of cash we can distribute to our unitholders principally depends upon the amount of cash we generate from our operations, which will fluctuate from quarter to quarter based on, among other things:

•

the level of production of, demand for, and price of natural gas and crude oil, particularly the level of production in the locations where we provide compression services;



•

the fees we charge, and the margins we realize, from our compression services;



•

the cost of achieving organic growth in current and new markets;



•

the level of competition from other companies; and



•

prevailing global and regional economic and regulatory conditions, and their impact on our customers.

        In addition, the actual amount of cash we will have available for distribution will depend on other factors, including:

•

the levels of our maintenance capital expenditures and expansion capital expenditures;



•

the level of our operating costs and expenses;



•

our debt service requirements and other liabilities;



•

fluctuations in our working capital needs;



•

restrictions contained in our revolving credit facility;



•

the cost of acquisitions, if any;



•

fluctuations in interest rates;



•

our ability to borrow funds and access capital markets; and



•

the amount of cash reserves established by our general partner.

        For a description of additional restrictions and factors that may affect our ability to make cash distributions, please read "Our Cash Distribution Policy and Restrictions on Distributions."

21

---

Table of Contents

On a pro forma basis we would not have had sufficient cash available for distribution to pay the full minimum quarterly distribution on all of our units for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010 and September 30, 2011.

        The amount of cash available for distribution we need to pay the minimum quarterly distribution for four quarters on the common units, the subordinated units and the general partner units to be outstanding immediately after this offering is approximately $             million. Our pro forma cash available for distribution generated during the twelve months ended December 31, 2010 and September 30, 2011 of $31.4 million and $33.7 million, respectively, would have been sufficient to allow us to pay the full minimum quarterly distribution on all of the common units, but would only allow us to pay        % and        %, respectively, of the full minimum quarterly distribution on all of the subordinated units during those periods. For a calculation of our ability to make distributions to unitholders based on our pro forma results for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010 and September 30, 2011, please read "Our Cash Distribution Policy and Restrictions on Distributions—Pro Forma Cash Available for Distribution for the Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2010 and September 30, 2011."

The assumptions underlying our estimate of cash available for distribution described in "Our Cash Distribution Policy and Restrictions on Distributions" are inherently uncertain and subject to significant business, economic, financial, regulatory and competitive risks and uncertainties that could cause us to be unable to pay our minimum quarterly distributions to holders of our common units and subordinated units.

        Our estimate of cash available for distribution set forth in "Our Cash Distribution Policy and Restrictions on Distributions" is based on assumptions that are inherently uncertain and subject to significant business, economic, financial, regulatory and competitive risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those estimated. The estimate was prepared by our management, and we have not received an opinion or report on it from our independent registered public accounting firm or any other independent auditor. If we do not achieve the estimated results, we may not be able to pay the full minimum quarterly distribution or any amount on our common units or subordinated units, in which event the market price of our common units will likely decline materially.

A long-term reduction in the demand for, or production of, natural gas or crude oil in the locations where we operate could adversely affect the demand for our services or the prices we charge for our services, which could result in a decrease in our revenues and cash available for distribution to our unitholders.

        The demand for our compression services depends upon the continued demand for, and production of, natural gas and crude oil. Demand may be affected by, among other factors, natural gas prices, crude oil prices, weather, availability of alternative energy sources, governmental regulation and general demand for energy. Any prolonged, substantial reduction in the demand for natural gas or crude oil would, in all likelihood, depress the level of production activity and result in a decline in the demand for our compression services, which would reduce our cash available for distribution. Lower natural gas prices or crude oil prices over the long-term could result in a decline in the production of natural gas or crude oil, respectively, resulting in reduced demand for our compression services. Additionally, production from unconventional natural gas sources, such as tight sands, shales and coalbeds, constitute an increasing percentage of our compression services business. Such sources can be less economically feasible to produce in low natural gas price environments, in part due to costs related to compression requirements, and a reduction in demand for natural gas or natural gas lift for crude oil may cause such sources of natural gas to be uneconomic to drill and produce, which could in turn negatively impact the demand for our services. In addition, governmental regulation and tax policy may impact the demand for natural gas or impact the economic feasibility of development of new natural gas fields or production of existing fields.

22

---

Table of Contents

We have several key customers. The loss of any of these customers would result in a decrease in our revenues and cash available for distribution to our unitholders.

        We provide compression services under contracts with several key customers. The loss of one of these key customers may have a greater effect on our financial results than for a company with a more diverse customer base. Our largest customer for the year ended December 31, 2010 and the nine months ended September 30, 2011 was Southwestern Energy Company and its subsidiaries, or Southwestern. Southwestern accounted for 18.7% of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2010, and 16.7% of our revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2011. Our ten largest customers accounted for 53.4% of our revenues for each of the year ended December 31, 2010, and the nine months ended September 30, 2011. The loss of all or even a portion of the compression services we provide to our key customers, as a result of competition or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and ability to make cash distributions to our unitholders.

The erosion of the financial condition of our customers could adversely affect our business.

        During times when the natural gas or oil markets weaken, our customers are more likely to experience financial difficulties and the lack of availability of debt or equity financing, which could result in a reduction in our customers' spending for our services. For example, our customers could seek to preserve capital by using lower cost providers, not renewing month-to-month contracts or determining not to enter into any new compression service contracts. Reduced demand for our services could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. In addition, in the event of the financial failure of a customer, we could experience a loss of all or a portion of our outstanding accounts receivable associated with that customer.

We face significant competition that may cause us to lose market share and reduce our ability to make distributions to our unitholders.

        The compression business is highly competitive. Some of our competitors have a broader geographic scope, as well as greater financial and other resources than we do. Our ability to renew or replace existing contracts with our customers at rates sufficient to maintain current revenue and cash flows could be adversely affected by the activities of our competitors and our customers. If our competitors substantially increase the resources they devote to the development and marketing of competitive services or substantially decrease the prices at which they offer their services, we may be unable to compete effectively. Some of these competitors may expand or construct newer, more powerful or more flexible compression fleets that would create additional competition for us. Additionally, there are lower barriers to entry for customers as competitors seeking to purchase individual compression units. All of these competitive pressures could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and reduce our ability to make cash distributions to our unitholders.

Our customers may choose to vertically integrate their operations by purchasing and operating their own compression fleet, or expanding the amount of compression units they currently own.

        Our customers that are significant producers, processors, gatherers and transporters of natural gas and crude oil may choose to vertically integrate their operations by purchasing and operating their own compression fleets in lieu of using our compression services. Currently, the availability of attractive financing terms from financial institutions and equipment manufacturers facilitates this possibility by making the purchase of individual compression units increasingly affordable to our customers. Such vertical integration or increases in vertical integration could result in decreased demand for our compression services, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and reduce our ability to make cash distributions to our unitholders.

23

---

Table of Contents

We may be unable to grow our cash flows if we are unable to expand our business, which could limit our ability to increase distributions to our unitholders.

        A principal focus of our strategy is to continue to grow the per unit distribution on our units by expanding our business. Our future growth will depend upon a number of factors, some of which we cannot control. These factors include our ability to:

•

develop new business and enter into service contracts with new customers;



•

retain our existing customers and maintain or expand the level of services we provide them;



•

recruit and train qualified personnel and retain valued employees;



•

expand our geographic presence;



•

effectively manage our costs and expenses, including costs and expenses related to growth;



•

consummate accretive acquisitions;



•

obtain required debt or equity financing for our existing and new operations; and



•

meet customer-specific contract requirements or pre-qualifications.

        If we do not achieve our expected growth, we may not be able to achieve our estimated results and, as a result, we may not be able to pay the aggregate minimum quarterly distribution on our common units and subordinated units and general partner units, in which event the market price of our common units will likely decline materially.

We may be unable to grow successfully through future acquisitions, and we may not be able to integrate effectively the businesses we may acquire, which may impact our operations and limit our ability to increase distributions to our unitholders.

        From time to time, we may choose to make business acquisitions to pursue market opportunities, increase our existing capabilities and expand into new areas of operations. While we have reviewed acquisition opportunities in the past and will continue to do so in the future, we have not actively pursued any acquisitions, and in the future we may not be able to identify attractive acquisition opportunities or successfully acquire identified targets. In addition, we may not be successful in integrating any future acquisitions into our existing operations, which may result in unforeseen operational difficulties or diminished financial performance or require a disproportionate amount of our management's attention. Even if we are successful in integrating future acquisitions into our existing operations, we may not derive the benefits, such as operational or administrative synergies, that we expected from such acquisitions, which may result in the commitment of our capital resources without the expected returns on such capital. Furthermore, competition for acquisition opportunities may escalate, increasing our cost of making acquisitions or causing us to refrain from making acquisitions. Our inability to make acquisitions, or to integrate successfully future acquisitions into our existing operations, may adversely impact our operations and limit our ability to increase distributions to our unitholders.

Our ability to grow in the future is dependent on our ability to access external expansion capital.

        We will distribute all of our available cash after expenses and prudent operating reserves to our unitholders. We expect that we will rely primarily upon external financing sources, including borrowings under our revolving credit facility and the issuance of debt and equity securities, to fund expansion capital expenditures. However, we may not be able to obtain equity or debt financing on terms favorable to us, or at all. To the extent we are unable to efficiently finance growth externally, our cash distribution policy will significantly impair our ability to grow. In addition, because we distribute all of our available cash, we may not grow as quickly as businesses that reinvest their available cash to

24

---

Table of Contents

expand ongoing operations. To the extent we issue additional units in connection with other expansion capital expenditures, the payment of distributions on those additional units may increase the risk that we will be unable to maintain or increase our per unit distribution level. There are no limitations in our partnership agreement on our ability to issue additional units, including units ranking senior to the common units. The incurrence of borrowings or other debt by us to finance our growth strategy would result in interest expense, which in turn would affect the available cash that we have to distribute to our unitholders.

Our ability to manage and grow our business effectively may be adversely affected if we lose management or operational personnel.

        We depend on the continuing efforts of our executive officers, all of whom are employees of USA Compression GP, LLC. The departure of any of our executive officers, and in particular, Eric D. Long, President and Chief Executive Officer of our general partner, could have a significant negative effect on our business, operating results, financial condition and on our ability to compete effectively in the marketplace.

        Additionally, our ability to hire, train and retain qualified personnel will continue to be important and will become more challenging as we grow and if energy industry market conditions continue to be positive. When general industry conditions are good, the competition for experienced operational and field technicians increases as other energy and manufacturing companies' needs for the same personnel increases. Our ability to grow or even to continue our current level of service to our current customers will be adversely impacted if we are unable to successfully hire, train and retain these important personnel.

We depend on a limited number of suppliers and are vulnerable to product shortages and price increases, which could have a negative impact on our results of operations.

        The substantial majority of the components for our natural gas compression equipment are supplied by Caterpillar (for engines), Air-X-Changers and Air Cooled Exchangers (for coolers), and Ariel Corporation (for compressor frames and cylinders). Our reliance on these suppliers involves several risks, including price increases and a potential inability to obtain an adequate supply of required components in a timely manner. We also rely primarily on two vendors, A G Equipment Company and Standard Equipment Corp., to package and assemble our compression units. We do not have long-term contracts with these suppliers or packagers, and a partial or complete loss of any of these sources could have a negative impact on our results of operations and could damage our customer relationships. Some of these suppliers manufacture the components we purchase in a single facility, and any damage to that facility could lead to significant delays in delivery of completed units. In addition, since we expect any increase in component prices for compression equipment or packaging costs will be passed on to us, a significant increase in their pricing could have a negative impact on our results of operations.

We are subject to substantial environmental regulation, and changes in these regulations could increase our costs or liabilities.

        We are subject to stringent and complex federal, state and local laws and regulations, including laws and regulations regarding the discharge of materials into the environment, emission controls and other environmental protection and occupational health and safety concerns. Environmental laws and regulations may, in certain circumstances, impose strict liability for environmental contamination, which may render us liable for remediation costs, natural resource damages and other damages as a result of our conduct that was lawful at the time it occurred or the conduct of, or conditions caused by, prior owners or operators or other third parties. In addition, where contamination may be present, it is not uncommon for neighboring land owners and other third parties to file claims for personal injury, property damage and recovery of response costs. Remediation costs and other damages arising as a

25

---

Table of Contents

result of environmental laws and regulations, and costs associated with new information, changes in existing environmental laws and regulations or the adoption of new environmental laws and regulations could be substantial and could negatively impact our financial condition or results of operations. Moreover, failure to comply with these environmental laws and regulations may result in the imposition of administrative, civil and criminal penalties and the issuance of injunctions delaying or prohibiting operations.

        We conduct operations in a wide variety of locations across the continental U.S. These operations require U.S. federal, state or local environmental permits or other authorizations. We may need to apply for or amend facility permits or licenses from time to time with respect to storm water discharges, waste handling, or air emissions relating to equipment operations, which subjects us to new or revised permitting conditions that may be onerous or costly to comply with. Additionally, the operation of compression units may require individual air permits or general authorizations to operate under various air regulatory programs established by rule or regulation. These permits and authorizations frequently contain numerous compliance requirements, including monitoring and reporting obligations and operational restrictions, such as emission limits. Given the wide variety of locations in which we operate, and the numerous environmental permits and other authorizations that are applicable to our operations, we may occasionally identify or be notified of technical violations of certain requirements existing in various permits or other authorizations. We could be subject to penalties for any noncompliance in the future.

        We routinely deal with natural gas, oil and other petroleum products. Hydrocarbons or other hazardous substances or wastes may have been disposed or released on, under or from properties used by us to provide compression services or inactive compression unit storage or on or under other locations where such substances or wastes have been taken for disposal. These properties may be subject to investigatory, remediation and monitoring requirements under federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations.

        The modification or interpretation of existing environmental laws or regulations, the more vigorous enforcement of existing environmental laws or regulations, or the adoption of new environmental laws or regulations may also negatively impact oil and natural gas exploration and production, gathering and pipeline companies, including our customers, which in turn could have a negative impact on us.

New regulations, proposed regulations and proposed modifications to existing regulations under the Clean Air Act, or CAA, if implemented, could result in increased compliance costs.

        On August 20, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or the EPA, published new regulations under the CAA to control emissions of hazardous air pollutants from existing stationary reciprocating internal combustion engines. All engines subject to these regulations are required to comply by October 2013. The rule will require us to undertake certain expenditures and activities, including purchasing and installing emissions control equipment on a portion of our engines located at major sources of hazardous air pollutants and all our engines over a certain size regardless of location, following prescribed maintenance practices for engines (which are consistent with our existing practices), and implementing additional emissions testing and monitoring. On January 5, 2011, the EPA approved a request by industry groups for reconsideration of the monitoring issues and on March 9, 2011, the EPA issued a new proposed rule and a direct final rule effective on May 9, 2011 to clarify compliance requirements related to operation and maintenance procedures for continuous parametric monitoring systems. We do not believe the costs associated with compliance will be material between now and the October 2013 compliance date.

        On June 28, 2011, the EPA issued a final rule modifying existing regulations under the CAA that established new source performance standards for manufacturers, owners and operators of new, modified and reconstructed stationary internal combustion engines. The final rule will require us to undertake certain expenditures, including expenditures for purchasing, installing, monitoring and

26

---

Table of Contents

maintaining emissions control equipment on some of our natural gas compression fleet. Compliance with the final rule would not be required until at least 2013. We are currently evaluating the impact that this final rule will have on our operations.

        On July 28, 2011, the EPA proposed rules that would establish new air emission controls for oil and natural gas production and natural gas processing operations. Specifically, the EPA's proposed rule package includes New Source Performance Standards to address emissions of sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compounds ("VOCs") and a separate set of emission standards to address hazardous air pollutants frequently associated with oil and natural gas production and processing activities. The proposed rules also would establish specific new requirements regarding emissions from compressors, dehydrators, storage tanks and other production equipment. In addition, the rules would establish new leak detection requirements for natural gas processing plants. The EPA will receive public comment and hold hearings regarding the proposed rules and must take final action on the rules by April 3, 2012. If finalized, these rules could require a number of modifications to our operations including the installation of new equipment to control emissions from our compressors. Compliance with such rules could result in significant costs, including increased capital expenditures and operating costs, and could adversely impact our business.

        In addition, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or the TCEQ, has finalized revisions to certain air permit programs that significantly increase the air permitting requirements for new and certain existing oil and gas production and gathering sites for 23 counties in the Barnett Shale production area. The final rule establishes new emissions standards for engines, which could impact the operation of specific categories of engines by requiring the use of alternative engines, compression packages or the installation of aftermarket emissions control equipment. The rule became effective for the Barnett Shale production area in April 2011, with the lower emissions standards becoming applicable between 2015 and 2030 depending on the type of engine and the permitting requirements. The cost to comply with the revised air permit programs is not expected to be material at this time. However, the TCEQ has stated it will consider expanding application of the new air permit program statewide. At this point, we cannot predict the cost to comply with such requirements if the geographic scope is expanded.

        These new regulations and proposals, when finalized, and any other new regulations requiring the installation of more sophisticated pollution control equipment could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition and ability to make cash distributions to our unitholders.

Climate change legislation and regulatory initiatives could result in increased compliance costs.

        Methane, a primary component of natural gas, and carbon dioxide, a byproduct of the burning of natural gas, are examples of greenhouse gases, or GHGs. In recent years, the U.S. Congress has considered legislation to reduce emissions of GHGs. It presently appears unlikely that comprehensive climate legislation will be passed by either house of Congress in the near future, although energy legislation and other initiatives are expected to be proposed that may be relevant to GHG emissions issues. In addition, almost half of the states have begun to address GHG emissions, primarily through the planned development of emission inventories or regional GHG cap and trade programs. Depending on the particular program, we could be required to control emissions or to purchase and surrender allowances for GHG emissions resulting from our operations.

        Independent of Congress, the EPA is beginning to adopt regulations controlling GHG emissions under its existing Clean Air Act authority. For example, on December 15, 2009, the EPA officially published its findings that emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other GHGs present an endangerment to human health and the environment because emissions of such gases are, according to the EPA, contributing to warming of the earth's atmosphere and other climatic changes. These findings by the EPA allow the agency to proceed with the adoption and implementation of regulations that

27

---

Table of Contents

would restrict emissions of GHGs under existing provisions of the federal Clean Air Act. In 2009, the EPA adopted rules regarding regulation of GHG emissions from motor vehicles. In addition, on September 22, 2009, the EPA issued a final rule requiring the reporting of GHG emissions in the United States beginning in 2011 for emissions occurring in 2010 from specified large GHG emission sources. On November 30, 2010, the EPA published a final rule expanding its existing GHG emissions reporting rule for petroleum and natural gas facilities, including natural gas transmission compression facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. The rule, which went into effect on December 30, 2010, requires reporting of GHG emissions by regulated facilities to the EPA by March 2012 for emissions during 2011 and annually thereafter. In 2010, the EPA also issued a final rule, known as the "Tailoring Rule," that makes certain large stationary sources and modification projects subject to permitting requirements for GHG emissions under the Clean Air Act. This new permitting program may affect some of our customers' largest new or modified facilities going forward. Several of the EPA's GHG rules are being challenged in court and, depending on the outcome of these proceedings, such rules may be modified or rescinded or the EPA could develop new rules.

        Although it is not currently possible to predict how any such proposed or future GHG legislation or regulation by Congress, the states or multi-state regions will impact our business, any legislation or regulation of GHG emissions that may be imposed in areas in which we conduct business could result in increased compliance costs, additional operating restrictions or reduced demand for our services, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and ability to make cash distributions to our unitholders.

Increased regulation of hydraulic fracturing could result in reductions or delays in natural gas production by our customers, which could adversely impact our revenue.

        A portion of our customers' natural gas production is from unconventional sources that require hydraulic fracturing as part of the completion process. Hydraulic fracturing involves the injection of water, sand and chemicals under pressure into the formation to stimulate gas production. Legislation to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to repeal the exemption for hydraulic fracturing from the definition of "underground injection" and require federal permitting and regulatory control of hydraulic fracturing, as well as legislative proposals to require disclosure of the chemical constituents of the fluids used in the fracturing process, were proposed in recent sessions of Congress. The U.S. Congress continues to consider legislation to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act. Scrutiny of hydraulic fracturing activities continues in other ways, with the EPA having commenced a multi-year study of the potential environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing, the results of which are anticipated to be available by 2012. Several states have also proposed or adopted legislative or regulatory restrictions on hydraulic fracturing. We cannot predict whether any such legislation will ever be enacted and if so, what its provisions would be. If additional levels of regulation and permits were required through the adoption of new laws and regulations at the federal or state level, that could lead to delays, increased operating costs and process prohibitions that could reduce the volumes of natural gas that move through our gathering systems, which would materially adversely affect our revenue and results of operations.

We do not insure against all potential losses and could be seriously harmed by unexpected liabilities.

        Our operations are subject to inherent risks such as equipment defects, malfunction and failures, and natural disasters that can result in uncontrollable flows of gas or well fluids, fires and explosions. These risks could expose us to substantial liability for personal injury, death, property damage, pollution and other environmental damages. Our insurance may be inadequate to cover our liabilities. Further, insurance covering the risks we face or in the amounts we desire may not be available in the future or, if available, the premiums may not be commercially justifiable. If we were to incur substantial liability and such damages were not covered by insurance or were in excess of policy limits, or if we were to incur liability at a time when we are not able to obtain liability insurance, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected. Please read "Our

28

---

Table of Contents

Operations—Environmental and Safety Regulations" for a description of how we are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations governing the discharge of materials into the environment or otherwise relating to protection of human health and environment.

Our debt levels may limit our flexibility in obtaining additional financing, pursuing other business opportunities and paying distributions.

        We have a $500 million revolving credit facility that matures on October 5, 2015. In addition, we have the option to increase the amount of available borrowings under the revolving credit facility by $50 million, subject to receipt of lender commitments and satisfaction of other conditions. Approximately $             million is expected to be outstanding under the revolving credit facility after the closing of this offering, assuming a price per unit in the offering equal to the midpoint of the range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus and the application of net proceeds as discussed under "Use of Proceeds."

        Following this offering, our ability to incur additional debt will be subject to limitations in our revolving credit facility. Our level of debt could have important consequences to us, including the following:

•

our ability to obtain additional financing, if necessary, for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions or other purposes may be impaired or such financing may not be available on favorable terms;



•

we will need a portion of our cash flow to make payments on our indebtedness, reducing the funds that would otherwise be available for operation, future business opportunities and distributions; and



•

our debt level will make us more vulnerable than our competitors with less debt to competitive pressures or a downturn in our business or the economy generally.

        Our ability to service our debt will depend upon, among other things, our future financial and operating performance, which will be affected by prevailing economic conditions and financial, business, regulatory and other factors, some of which are beyond our control. In addition, our ability to service our debt under the revolving credit facility will depend on market interest rates, since we anticipate that the interest rates applicable to our borrowings will fluctuate with movements in interest rate markets. If our operating results are not sufficient to service our current or future indebtedness, we will be forced to take actions such as reducing distributions, reducing or delaying our business activities, acquisitions, investments or capital expenditures, selling assets, restructuring or refinancing our debt, or seeking additional equity capital. We may be unable to effect any of these actions on satisfactory terms, or at all.

Restrictions in our revolving credit facility may limit our ability to make distributions to our unitholders and may limit our ability to capitalize on acquisition and other business opportunities.

        The operating and financial restrictions and covenants in our revolving credit facility and any future financing agreements could restrict our ability to finance future operations or capital needs or to expand or pursue our business activities. For example, our revolving credit facility restricts or limits our ability to:

•

make distributions;



•

grant liens;

29

---

Table of Contents

•

incur additional indebtedness;



•

engage in a merger, consolidation or dissolution;



•

enter into transactions with affiliates;



•

sell or otherwise dispose of assets, businesses and operations;



•

materially alter the character of its business as conducted at the closing of this offering; and



•

make acquisitions, investments and capital expenditures.

        Furthermore, our revolving credit facility contains certain operating and financial covenants. Our ability to comply with the covenants and restrictions contained in the revolving credit facility may be affected by events beyond our control, including prevailing economic, financial and industry conditions. If market or other economic conditions deteriorate, our ability to comply with these covenants may be impaired. If we violate any of the restrictions, covenants, ratios or tests in our revolving credit facility, a significant portion of our indebtedness may become immediately due and payable, our lenders' commitment to make further loans to us may terminate, and we will be prohibited from making distributions to our unitholders. We might not have, or be able to obtain, sufficient funds to make these accelerated payments. Any subsequent replacement of our revolving credit facility or any new indebtedness could have similar or greater restrictions. Please read "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Description of Revolving Credit Facility."

An impairment of goodwill or other intangible assets could reduce our earnings.

        We have recorded approximately $157.1 million of goodwill and $85.3 million of other intangible assets as of September 30, 2011. Goodwill is recorded when the purchase price of a business exceeds the fair market value of the tangible and separately measurable intangible net assets. GAAP requires us to test goodwill for impairment on an annual basis or when events or circumstances occur indicating that goodwill might be impaired. Any event that causes a reduction in demand for our services could result in a reduction of our estimates of future cash flows and growth rates in our business. These events could cause us to record impairments of goodwill or other intangible assets. If we determine that any of our of goodwill or other intangible assets are impaired, we will be required to take an immediate charge to earnings with a corresponding reduction of partners' capital resulting in an increase in balance sheet leverage as measured by debt to total capitalization. There was no impairment recorded for goodwill or other intangible assets for the year ended December 31, 2010 or during the nine months ended September 30, 2011.

Terrorist attacks, the threat of terrorist attacks, hostilities in the Middle East, or other sustained military campaigns may adversely impact our results of operations.

        The long-term impact of terrorist attacks, such as the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, and the magnitude of the threat of future terrorist attacks on the energy industry in general and on us in particular are not known at this time. Uncertainty surrounding hostilities in the Middle East or other sustained military campaigns may affect our operations in unpredictable ways, including disruptions of natural gas supplies and markets for natural gas and natural gas liquids and the possibility that infrastructure facilities could be direct targets of, or indirect casualties of, an act of terror. Changes in the insurance markets attributable to terrorist attacks may make certain types of insurance more difficult for us to obtain. Moreover, the insurance that may be available to us may be significantly more expensive than our existing insurance coverage. Instability in the financial markets as a result of terrorism or war could also affect our ability to raise capital.

30

---

Table of Contents

If we fail to develop or maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to report our financial results accurately or prevent fraud, which would likely have a negative impact on the market price of our common units.

        Prior to this offering, we have not been required to file reports with the SEC. Upon the completion of this offering, we will become subject to the public reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP, but our internal accounting controls may not currently meet all standards applicable to companies with publicly traded securities. Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports, prevent fraud and to operate successfully as a publicly traded partnership. Our efforts to develop and maintain our internal controls may not be successful, and we may be unable to maintain effective controls over our financial processes and reporting in the future or to comply with our obligations under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or Section 404. For example, Section 404 will require us, among other things, to review and report annually on, and our independent registered public accounting firm to attest to, the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. We must comply with Section 404 for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2012. Any failure to develop, implement or maintain effective internal controls or to improve our internal controls could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. Given the difficulties inherent in the design and operation of internal controls over financial reporting, we can provide no assurance as to our, or our independent registered public accounting firm's, conclusions about the effectiveness of our internal controls, and we may incur significant costs in our efforts to comply with Section 404. Ineffective internal controls will subject us to regulatory scrutiny and a loss of confidence in our reported financial information, which could have an adverse effect on our business and would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our common units.

Risks Inherent in an Investment in Us

Holders of our common units have limited voting rights and are not entitled to elect our general partner or its directors.

        Unlike the holders of common stock in a corporation, unitholders have only limited voting rights on matters affecting our business and, therefore, limited ability to influence management's decisions regarding our business. Unitholders will have no right on an annual or ongoing basis to elect our general partner or its board of directors. USA Compression Holdings is the sole member of our general partner and will have the right to appoint our general partner's entire board of directors, including our independent directors. If the unitholders are dissatisfied with the performance of our general partner, they will have little ability to remove our general partner. As a result of these limitations, the price at which the common units will trade could be diminished because of the absence or reduction of a takeover premium in the trading price. Our partnership agreement also contains provisions limiting the ability of unitholders to call meetings or to acquire information about our operations, as well as other provisions limiting the unitholders' ability to influence the manner or direction of management.

USA Compression Holdings owns and controls our general partner, which has sole responsibility for conducting our business and managing our operations. Our general partner and its affiliates, including USA Compression Holdings, have conflicts of interest with us and limited fiduciary duties, and they may favor their own interests to the detriment of us and our common unitholders.

        Following this offering, USA Compression Holdings, which is principally owned and controlled by Riverstone, will own and control our general partner and will appoint all of the officers and directors of our general partner, some of whom will also be officers and directors of USA Compression Holdings. Although our general partner has a fiduciary duty to manage us in a manner that is

31

---

Table of Contents

beneficial to us and our unitholders, the directors and officers of our general partner have a fiduciary duty to manage our general partner in a manner that is beneficial to its owners. Conflicts of interest will arise between USA Compression Holdings, Riverstone and our general partner, on the one hand, and us and our unitholders, on the other hand. In resolving these conflicts of interest, our general partner may favor its own interests and the interests of USA Compression Holdings and the other owners of USA Compression Holdings over our interests and the interests of our common unitholders. These conflicts include the following situations, among others:

•

neither our partnership agreement nor any other agreement requires USA Compression Holdings to pursue a business strategy that favors us;



•

our general partner is allowed to take into account the interests of parties other than us, such as USA Compression Holdings, in resolving conflicts of interest;



•

our partnership agreement limits the liability of and reduces the fiduciary duties owed by our general partner, and also restricts the remedies available to our unitholders for actions that, without the limitations, might constitute breaches of fiduciary duty;



•

except in limited circumstances, our general partner has the power and authority to conduct our business without unitholder approval;



•

our general partner determines the amount and timing of asset purchases and sales, borrowings, issuance of additional partnership interests and the creation, reduction or increase of reserves, each of which can affect the amount of cash that is distributed to our unitholders;



•

our general partner determines the amount and timing of any capital expenditures and whether a capital expenditure is classified as a maintenance capital expenditure, which reduces operating surplus, or an expansion capital expenditure, which does not reduce operating surplus. This determination can affect the amount of cash that is distributed to our unitholders and to our general partner and the ability of the subordinated units to convert to common units;



•

our general partner determines which costs incurred by it are reimbursable by us;



•

our general partner may cause us to borrow funds in order to permit the payment of cash distributions, even if the purpose or effect of the borrowing is to make a distribution on the subordinated units, to make incentive distributions or to accelerate the expiration of the subordination period;



•

our partnership agreement permits us to classify up to $         million as operating surplus, even if it is generated from asset sales, non-working capital borrowings or other sources that would otherwise constitute capital surplus. This cash may be used to fund distributions on our subordinated units or to our general partner in respect of the general partner interest or the incentive distribution rights;



•

our partnership agreement does not restrict our general partner from causing us to pay it or its affiliates for any services rendered to us or entering into additional contractual arrangements with any of these entities on our behalf;



•

our general partner intends to limit its liability regarding our contractual and other obligations;



•

our general partner may exercise its right to call and purchase all of the common units not owned by it and its affiliates if they own more than 80% of the common units;



•

our general partner controls the enforcement of the obligations that it and its affiliates owe to us;



•

our general partner decides whether to retain separate counsel, accountants or others to perform services for us; and

32

---

Table of Contents

•

our general partner may elect to cause us to issue common units to it in connection with a resetting of the target distribution levels related to our general partner's incentive distribution rights without the approval of the conflicts committee of the board of directors of our general partner or our unitholders. This election may result in lower distributions to our common unitholders in certain situations.

        Please read "Conflicts of Interest and Fiduciary Duties."

Our general partner intends to limit its liability regarding our obligations.

        Our general partner intends to limit its liability under contractual arrangements so that the counterparties to such arrangements have recourse only against our assets, and not against our general partner or its assets. Our general partner may therefore cause us to incur indebtedness or other obligations that are nonrecourse to our general partner. Our partnership agreement provides that any action taken by our general partner to limit its liability is not a breach of our general partner's fiduciary duties, even if we could have obtained more favorable terms without the limitation on liability. In addition, we are obligated to reimburse or indemnify our general partner to the extent that it incurs obligations on our behalf. Any such reimbursement or indemnification payments would reduce the amount of cash otherwise available for distribution to our unitholders.

Our partnership agreement requires that we distribute all of our available cash, which could limit our ability to grow and make acquisitions.

        We expect that we will distribute all of our available cash to our unitholders and will rely primarily upon external financing sources, including commercial bank borrowings and the issuance of debt and equity securities, to fund our acquisitions and expansion capital expenditures. As a result, to the extent we are unable to finance growth externally, our cash distribution policy will significantly impair our ability to grow.

        In addition, because we distribute all of our available cash, our growth may not be as fast as that of businesses that reinvest their available cash to expand ongoing operations. To the extent we issue additional units in connection with any acquisitions or expansion capital expenditures, the payment of distributions on those additional units may increase the risk that we will be unable to maintain or increase our per unit distribution level. There are no limitations in our partnership agreement or our revolving credit facility on our ability to issue additional units, including units ranking senior to the common units. The incurrence of additional commercial borrowings or other debt to finance our growth strategy would result in increased interest expense, which, in turn, may impact the available cash that we have to distribute to our unitholders.

Our partnership agreement limits our general partner's fiduciary duties to holders of our common and subordinated units.

        Our partnership agreement contains provisions that modify and reduce the fiduciary standards to which our general partner would otherwise be held by state fiduciary duty law. For example, our partnership agreement permits our general partner to make a number of decisions in its individual capacity, as opposed to in its capacity as our general partner, or otherwise free of fiduciary duties to us and our unitholders. This entitles our general partner to consider only the interests and factors that it desires and relieves it of any duty or obligation to give any consideration to any interest of, or factors affecting, us, our affiliates or our limited partners. Examples of decisions that our general partner may make in its individual capacity include:

•

how to allocate business opportunities among us and its affiliates;



•

whether to exercise its limited call right;

33

---

Table of Contents

•

how to exercise its voting rights with respect to the units it owns;



•

whether to elect to reset target distribution levels; and



•

whether or not to consent to any merger or consolidation of the partnership or amendment to the partnership agreement.

        By purchasing a common unit, a common unitholder agrees to become bound by the provisions in the partnership agreement, including the provisions discussed above. Please read "Conflicts of Interest and Fiduciary Duties—Fiduciary Duties."

Even if holders of our common units are dissatisfied, they cannot initially remove our general partner without USA Compression Holdings' consent.

        The unitholders initially will be unable to remove our general partner because our general partner and its affiliates will own sufficient units upon completion of this offering to be able to prevent its removal. The vote of the holders of at least 66²/3% of all outstanding common and subordinated units voting together as a single class is required to remove our general partner. Following the closing of this offering, USA Compression Holdings will own an aggregate of            % of our outstanding common and subordinated units. Also, if our general partner is removed without cause during the subordination period and no units held by the holders of the subordinated units or their affiliates are voted in favor of that removal, all subordinated units held by our general partner and its affiliates will automatically be converted into common units. If no units held by any holder of subordinated units or its affiliates are voted in favor of that removal, all subordinated units will convert automatically into common units and any existing arrearages on the common units will be extinguished. A removal of our general partner under these circumstances would adversely affect our common units by prematurely eliminating their distribution and liquidation preference over our subordinated units, which would otherwise have continued until we had met certain distribution and performance tests. Cause is narrowly defined to mean that a court of competent jurisdiction has entered a final, non-appealable judgment finding our general partner liable for actual fraud or willful misconduct in its capacity as our general partner. Cause does not include most cases of charges of poor management of the business.

Our partnership agreement restricts the remedies available to holders of our common units for actions taken by our general partner that might otherwise constitute breaches of fiduciary duty.

        Our partnership agreement contains provisions that restrict the remedies available to unitholders for actions taken by our general partner that might otherwise constitute breaches of fiduciary duty under state fiduciary duty law. For example, our partnership agreement:

•

provides that whenever our general partner makes a determination or takes, or declines to take, any other action in its capacity as our general partner, our general partner is required to make such determination, or take or decline to take such other action, in good faith, and will not be subject to any other or different standard imposed by our partnership agreement, Delaware law, or any other law, rule or regulation, or at equity;



•

provides that our general partner will not have any liability to us or our unitholders for decisions made in its capacity as a general partner so long as such decisions are made in good faith, meaning that it believed that the decisions were in the best interest of our partnership;



•

provides that our general partner and its officers and directors will not be liable for monetary damages to us, our limited partners or their assignees resulting from any act or omission unless there has been a final and non-appealable judgment entered by a court of competent jurisdiction determining that our general partner or its officers and directors, as the case may be, acted in bad faith or engaged in fraud or willful misconduct or, in the case of a criminal matter, acted with knowledge that the conduct was criminal; and

34

---

Table of Contents

•

provides that our general partner will not be in breach of its obligations under the partnership agreement or its fiduciary duties to us or our unitholders if a transaction with an affiliate or the resolution of a conflict of interest is:



•

approved by the conflicts committee of the board of directors of our general partner, although our general partner is not obligated to seek such approval;



•

approved by the vote of a majority of the outstanding common units, excluding any common units owned by our general partner and its affiliates;



•

on terms no less favorable to us than those generally being provided to or available from unrelated third parties; or



•

fair and reasonable to us, taking into account the totality of the relationships among the parties involved, including other transactions that may be particularly favorable or advantageous to us.

        In connection with a situation involving a transaction with an affiliate or a conflict of interest, any determination by our general partner must be made in good faith. If an affiliate transaction or the resolution of a conflict of interest is not approved by our common unitholders or the conflicts committee and the board of directors of our general partner determines that the resolution or course of action taken with respect to the affiliate transaction or conflict of interest satisfies either of the standards set forth in subclauses (c) and (d) above, then it will be presumed that, in making its decision, the board of directors acted in good faith, and in any proceeding brought by or on behalf of any limited partner or the partnership, the person bringing or prosecuting such proceeding will have the burden of overcoming such presumption.

Our general partner may elect to cause us to issue common units to it in connection with a resetting of the target distribution levels related to its incentive distribution rights, without the approval of the conflicts committee of its board of directors or the holders of our common units. This could result in lower distributions to holders of our common units.

        Our general partner has the right, at any time when there are no subordinated units outstanding and it has received incentive distributions at the highest level to which it is entitled (48.0%) for each of the prior four consecutive fiscal quarters, to reset the initial target distribution levels at higher levels based on our distributions at the time of the exercise of the reset election. Following a reset election by our general partner, the minimum quarterly distribution will be adjusted to equal the reset minimum quarterly distribution, and the target distribution levels will be reset to correspondingly higher levels based on percentage increases above the reset minimum quarterly distribution.

        If our general partner elects to reset the target distribution levels, it will be entitled to receive a number of common units and general partner units. The number of common units to be issued to our general partner will equal the number of common units which would have entitled the holder to an average aggregate quarterly cash distribution in the prior two quarters equal to the average of the distributions to our general partner on the incentive distribution rights in the prior two quarters. Our general partner's general partner interest in us (currently 2.0%) will be maintained at the percentage that existed immediately prior to the reset election. We anticipate that our general partner would exercise this reset right in order to facilitate acquisitions or internal growth projects that would not be sufficiently accretive to cash distributions per common unit without such conversion. It is possible, however, that our general partner could exercise this reset election at a time when it is experiencing, or expects to experience, declines in the cash distributions it receives related to its incentive distribution rights and may, therefore, desire to be issued common units rather than retain the right to receive incentive distributions based on the initial target distribution levels. As a result, a reset election may cause our common unitholders to experience a reduction in the amount of cash distributions that our

35

---

Table of Contents

common unitholders would have otherwise received had we not issued new common units to our general partner in connection with resetting the target distribution levels. Please read "Provisions of our Partnership Agreement Relating to Cash Distributions—General Partner's Right to Reset Incentive Distribution Levels."

Our partnership agreement restricts the voting rights of unitholders owning 20% or more of our common units.

        Unitholders' voting rights are further restricted by a provision of our partnership agreement providing that any units held by a person that owns 20% or more of any class of units then outstanding, other than our general partner, its affiliates, their direct transferees and their indirect transferees approved by our general partner (which approval may be granted in its sole discretion) and persons who acquired such units with the prior approval of our general partner, cannot vote on any matter.

Our general partner interest or the control of our general partner may be transferred to a third party without unitholder consent.

        Our general partner may transfer its general partner interest to a third party in a merger or in a sale of all or substantially all of its assets without the consent of the unitholders. Furthermore, our partnership agreement does not restrict the ability of USA Compression Holdings to transfer all or a portion of its ownership interest in our general partner to a third party. The new owner of our general partner would then be in a position to replace the board of directors and officers of our general partner with its own designees and thereby exert significant control over the decisions made by the board of directors and officers.

An increase in interest rates may cause the market price of our common units to decline.

        Like all equity investments, an investment in our common units is subject to certain risks. In exchange for accepting these risks, investors may expect to receive a higher rate of return than would otherwise be obtainable from lower-risk investments. Accordingly, as interest rates rise, the ability of investors to obtain higher risk-adjusted rates of return by purchasing government-backed debt securities may cause a corresponding decline in demand for riskier investments generally, including yield-based equity investments such as publicly traded partnership interests. Reduced demand for our common units resulting from investors seeking other more favorable investment opportunities may cause the trading price of our common units to decline.

You will experience immediate and substantial dilution in pro forma net tangible book value of $        per common unit.

        The assumed initial public offering price of $            per common unit exceeds our pro forma net tangible book value of $            per common unit. Based on the initial public offering price of $            per common unit, you will incur immediate and substantial dilution of $            per common unit. This dilution results primarily because the assets contributed by our general partner and its affiliates are recorded in accordance with GAAP at their historical cost, and not their fair value. Please read "Dilution."

We may issue additional units without your approval, which would dilute your existing ownership interests.

        Our partnership agreement does not limit the number of additional limited partner interests that we may issue at any time without the approval of our unitholders. The issuance by us of additional common units or other equity securities of equal or senior rank will have the following effects:

•

our existing unitholders' proportionate ownership interest in us will decrease;

36

---

Table of Contents

•

the amount of cash available for distribution on each unit may decrease;



•

because a lower percentage of total outstanding units will be subordinated units, the risk that a shortfall in the payment of the minimum quarterly distribution will be borne by our common unitholders will increase;



•

the ratio of taxable income to distributions may increase;



•

the relative voting strength of each previously outstanding unit may be diminished; and



•

the market price of the common units may decline.

USA Compression Holdings may sell units in the public or private markets, and such sales could have an adverse impact on the trading price of the common units.

        After the sale of the common units offered by this prospectus, USA Compression Holdings will hold an aggregate of                     common units and                    subordinated units. All of the subordinated units will convert into common units at the end of the subordination period and may convert earlier under certain circumstances. Additionally, we have agreed to provide USA Compression Holdings with certain registration rights. Please read "The Partnership Agreement—Registration Rights." The sale of these units in the public or private markets could have an adverse impact on the price of the common units or on any trading market that may develop.

Our general partner has a call right that may require you to sell your units at an undesirable time or price.

        If at any time our general partner and its affiliates own more than 80% of the common units, our general partner will have the right, which it may assign to any of its affiliates or to us, but not the obligation, to acquire all, but not less than all, of the common units held by unaffiliated persons at a price that is not less than their then-current market price, as calculated pursuant to the terms of our partnership agreement. As a result, you may be required to sell your common units at an undesirable time or price and may not receive any return or a negative return on your investment. You may also incur a tax liability upon a sale of your units. At the completion of this offering, and assuming no exercise of the underwriters' option to purchase additional common units, USA Compression Holdings will own an aggregate of approximately        % of our outstanding common units. At the end of the subordination period (which could occur as early as December 31, 2012), assuming no additional issuances of common units (other than upon the conversion of the subordinated units), USA Compression Holdings will own an aggregate of approximately        % of our outstanding common units. For additional information about this right, please read "The Partnership Agreement—Limited Call Right."

Your liability may not be limited if a court finds that unitholder action constitutes control of our business.

        A general partner of a partnership generally has unlimited liability for the obligations of the partnership, except for those contractual obligations of the partnership that are expressly made without recourse to the general partner. Our partnership is organized under Delaware law, and we conduct business in a number of other states. The limitations on the liability of holders of limited partner interests for the obligations of a limited partnership have not been clearly established in some of the other states in which we do business. You could be liable for any and all of our obligations as if you were a general partner if a court or government agency were to determine that:

•

we were conducting business in a state but had not complied with that particular state's partnership statute; or

37

---

Table of Contents

•

your right to act with other unitholders to remove or replace our general partner, to approve some amendments to our partnership agreement or to take other actions under our partnership agreement constitute "control" of our business.

        For a discussion of the implications of the limitations of liability on a unitholder, please read "The Partnership Agreement—Limited Liability."

Unitholders may have liability to repay distributions that were wrongfully distributed to them.

        Under certain circumstances, unitholders may have to repay amounts wrongfully returned or distributed to them. Under Section 17-607 of the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act (the "Delaware Act"), we may not make a distribution to you if the distribution would cause our liabilities to exceed the fair value of our assets. Delaware law provides that for a period of three years from the date of an impermissible distribution, limited partners who received the distribution and who knew at the time of the distribution that it violated Delaware law will be liable to the limited partnership for the distribution amount. Substituted limited partners are liable both for the obligations of the assignor to make contributions to the partnership that were known to the substituted limited partner at the time it became a limited partner and for those obligations that were unknown if the liabilities could have been determined from the partnership agreement. Neither liabilities to partners on account of their partnership interest nor liabilities that are non-recourse to the partnership are counted for purposes of determining whether a distribution is permitted.

There is no existing market for our common units, and a trading market that will provide you with adequate liquidity may not develop. The price of our common units may fluctuate significantly, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

        Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common units. After this offering, there will be only                     publicly traded common units. In addition, USA Compression Holdings will own an aggregate of                    common and                    subordinated units, representing an aggregate        % limited partner interest in us. We do not know the extent to which investor interest will lead to the development of a trading market or how liquid that market might be. You may not be able to resell your common units at or above the initial public offering price. Additionally, the lack of liquidity may result in wide bid-ask spreads, contribute to significant fluctuations in the market price of the common units and limit the number of investors who are able to buy the common units.

        The initial public offering price for the common units will be determined by negotiations between us and the representatives of the underwriters and may not be indicative of the market price of the common units that will prevail in the trading market. The market price of our common units may decline below the initial public offering price. The market price of our common units may also be influenced by many factors, some of which are beyond our control, including:

•

our quarterly distributions;



•

our quarterly or annual earnings or those of other companies in our industry;



•

announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts or acquisitions;



•

changes in accounting standards, policies, guidance, interpretations or principles;



•

general economic conditions;



•

the failure of securities analysts to cover our common units after this offering or changes in financial estimates by analysts;



•

future sales of our common units; and



•

other factors described in these "Risk Factors."

38

---

Table of Contents

The New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, does not require a publicly traded partnership like us to comply with certain of its corporate governance requirements.

        We intend to apply to have our common units listed on the NYSE. Because we will be a publicly traded partnership, the NYSE does not require us to have a majority of independent directors on our general partner's board of directors or to establish a compensation committee or a nominating and corporate governance committee. Accordingly, unitholders will not have the same protections afforded to certain corporations that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance requirements. Please read "Management of USA Compression Partners, LP."

We will incur increased costs as a result of being a publicly traded partnership.

        We have no history operating as a publicly traded partnership. As a publicly traded partnership, we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses. In addition, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and related rules subsequently implemented by the SEC and the NYSE have required changes in the corporate governance practices of publicly traded companies. We expect these rules and regulations to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make activities more time-consuming and costly. For example, as a result of being a publicly traded partnership, we are required to have at least three independent directors, create an audit committee and adopt policies regarding internal controls and disclosure controls and procedures, including the preparation of reports on internal controls over financial reporting. In addition, we will incur additional costs associated with our publicly traded partnership reporting requirements. We also expect these new rules and regulations to make it more difficult and more expensive for our general partner to obtain director and officer liability insurance and result in our general partner possibly having to accept reduced policy limits and coverage. As a result, it may be more difficult for our general partner to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on its board of directors or as executive officers. We have included $3.1 million of estimated incremental costs per year associated with being a publicly traded partnership in our financial forecast included elsewhere in this prospectus. However, it is possible that our actual incremental costs of being a publicly traded partnership will be higher than we currently estimate.

Tax Risks to Common Unitholders

        In addition to reading the following risk factors, please read "Material Federal Income Tax Consequences" for a more complete discussion of the expected material federal income tax consequences of owning and disposing of common units.

Our tax treatment depends on our status as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. If the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, were to treat us as a corporation for federal income tax purposes, which would subject us to entity-level taxation, then our cash available for distribution to our unitholders would be substantially reduced.

        The anticipated after-tax economic benefit of an investment in the common units depends largely on our being treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. We have not requested, and do not plan to request, a ruling from the IRS on this or any other tax matter affecting us.

        Despite the fact that we are a limited partnership under Delaware law, it is possible in certain circumstances for a partnership such as ours to be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes. Although we do not believe based upon our current operations that we are or will be so treated, a change in our business or a change in current law could cause us to be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes or otherwise subject us to taxation as an entity.

        If we were treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes, we would pay federal income tax on our taxable income at the corporate tax rate, which is currently a maximum of 35%, and would likely pay state and local income tax at varying rates. Distributions would generally be taxed again as

39

---

Table of Contents

corporate dividends (to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits), and no income, gains, losses, deductions or credits would flow through to you. Because a tax would be imposed upon us as a corporation, our cash available for distribution to our unitholders would be substantially reduced. Therefore, if we were treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes, there would be a material reduction in the anticipated cash flow and after-tax return to our unitholders, likely causing a substantial reduction in the value of our common units.

If we were subjected to a material amount of additional entity-level taxation by individual states, it would reduce our cash available for distribution to our unitholders.

        Changes in current state law may subject us to additional entity-level taxation by individual states. Because of widespread state budget deficits and other reasons, several states are evaluating ways to subject partnerships to entity-level taxation through the imposition of state income, franchise and other forms of taxation. For example, we are required to pay Texas franchise tax each year at a maximum effective rate of 0.7% of our gross income apportioned to Texas in the prior year. Imposition of any similar taxes by any other state may substantially reduce the cash available for distribution to our unitholders and, therefore, negatively impact the value of an investment in our common units. Our partnership agreement provides that, if a law is enacted or existing law is modified or interpreted in a manner that subjects us to additional amounts of entity-level taxation, the minimum quarterly distribution amount and the target distribution amounts may be adjusted to reflect the impact of that law on us.

The tax treatment of publicly traded partnerships or an investment in our common units could be subject to potential legislative, judicial or administrative changes and differing interpretations, possibly on a retroactive basis.

        The present federal income tax treatment of publicly traded partnerships, including us, or an investment in our common units may be modified by administrative, legislative or judicial interpretation at any time. For example, judicial interpretations of the U.S. federal income tax laws may have a direct or indirect impact on our status as a partnership and, in some instances, a court's conclusions may heighten the risk of a challenge regarding our status as a partnership. Moreover, members of the U.S. Congress have recently considered substantive changes to the existing federal income tax laws that would have affected the tax treatment of certain publicly traded partnerships. We are unable to predict whether any of these changes, or other proposals, will be reconsidered or will ultimately be enacted. Any such changes or differing judicial interpretations of existing laws could be applied retroactively and could negatively impact the value of an investment in our common units.

        Our partnership agreement provides that, if a law is enacted or existing law is modified or interpreted in a manner that subjects us to taxation as a corporation or otherwise subjects us to entity-level taxation for federal, state or local income tax purposes, the minimum quarterly distribution amount and the target distribution amounts may be adjusted to reflect the impact of that law on us.

Our unitholders' share of our income will be taxable to them for federal income tax purposes even if they do not receive any cash distributions from us.

        Because a unitholder will be treated as a partner to whom we will allocate taxable income that could be different in amount than the cash we distribute, a unitholder's allocable share of our taxable income will be taxable to it, which may require the payment of federal income taxes and, in some cases, state and local income taxes, on its share of our taxable income even if it receives no cash distributions from us. Our unitholders may not receive cash distributions from us equal to their share of our taxable income or even equal to the actual tax liability that results from that income.

40

---

Table of Contents

If the IRS contests the federal income tax positions we take, the market for our common units may be adversely impacted and the cost of any IRS contest will reduce our cash available for distribution to our unitholders.

        We have not requested a ruling from the IRS with respect to our treatment as a partnership for federal income tax purposes or any other matter affecting us. The IRS may adopt positions that differ from the conclusions of our counsel expressed in this prospectus or from the positions we take, and the IRS's positions may ultimately be sustained. It may be necessary to resort to administrative or court proceedings to sustain some or all of our counsel's conclusions or the positions we take. A court may not agree with some or all of our counsel's conclusions or the positions we take. Any contest with the IRS, and the outcome of any IRS contest, may have a materially adverse impact on the market for our common units and the price at which they trade. In addition, our costs of any contest with the IRS will be borne indirectly by our unitholders and our general partner because the costs will reduce our cash available for distribution.

Tax gain or loss on the disposition of our common units could be more or less than expected.

        If our unitholders sell common units, they will recognize a gain or loss for federal income tax purposes equal to the difference between the amount realized and their tax basis in those common units. Because distributions in excess of their allocable share of our net taxable income decrease their tax basis in their common units, the amount, if any, of such prior excess distributions with respect to the common units a unitholder sells will, in effect, become taxable income to the unitholder if it sells such common units at a price greater than its tax basis in those common units, even if the price received is less than its original cost. Furthermore, a substantial portion of the amount realized on any sale of common units, whether or not representing gain, may be taxed as ordinary income due to potential recapture items, including depreciation recapture. In addition, because the amount realized includes a unitholder's share of our nonrecourse liabilities, a unitholder that sells common units may incur a tax liability in excess of the amount of cash received from the sale. Please read "Material Federal Income Tax Consequences—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss" for a further discussion of the foregoing.

Tax-exempt entities and non-U.S. persons face unique tax issues from owning our common units that may result in adverse tax consequences to them.

        Investment in common units by tax-exempt entities, such as employee benefit plans and individual retirement accounts (known as IRAs), and non-U.S. persons raises issues unique to them. For example, virtually all of our income allocated to organizations that are exempt from federal income tax, including IRAs and other retirement plans, will be unrelated business taxable income and will be taxable to them. Distributions to non-U.S. persons will be reduced by withholding taxes at the highest applicable effective tax rate, and non-U.S. persons will be required to file U.S. federal income tax returns and pay tax on their share of our taxable income. If you are a tax-exempt entity or a non-U.S. person, you should consult a tax advisor before investing in our common units.

We will treat each purchaser of common units as having the same tax benefits without regard to the actual common units purchased. The IRS may challenge this treatment, which could adversely affect the value of the common units.

        Because we cannot match transferors and transferees of common units and because of other reasons, we will adopt depreciation and amortization positions that may not conform to all aspects of existing Treasury Regulations. A successful IRS challenge to those positions could adversely affect the amount of tax benefits available to you. Our counsel is unable to opine as to the validity of such filing positions. It also could affect the timing of these tax benefits or the amount of gain from your sale of common units and could have a negative impact on the value of our common units or result in audit

41

---

Table of Contents

adjustments to your tax returns. Please read "Material Federal Income Tax Consequences—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election" for a further discussion of the effect of the depreciation and amortization positions we will adopt.

We prorate our items of income, gain, loss and deduction for federal income tax purposes between transferors and transferees of our units each month based upon the ownership of our units on the first day of each month, instead of on the basis of the date a particular unit is transferred. The IRS may challenge this treatment, which could change the allocation of items of income, gain, loss and deduction among our unitholders.

        We will prorate our items of income, gain, loss and deduction for federal income tax purposes between transferors and transferees of our units each month based upon the ownership of our units on the first day of each month, instead of on the basis of the date a particular unit is transferred. The use of this proration method may not be permitted under existing Treasury Regulations, and, accordingly, our counsel is unable to opine as to the validity of this method. Recently, however, the U.S. Treasury Department issued proposed Treasury Regulations that provide a safe harbor pursuant to which publicly traded partnerships may use a similar monthly simplifying convention to allocate tax items among transferor and transferee unitholders. Nonetheless, the proposed regulations do not specifically authorize the use of the proration method we have adopted. If the IRS were to challenge our proration method or new Treasury regulations were issued, we may be required to change the allocation of items of income, gain, loss and deduction among our unitholders. Please read "Material Federal Income Tax Consequences—Disposition of Common Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees."

A unitholder whose common units are loaned to a "short seller" to effect a short sale of common units may be considered as having disposed of those common units. If so, he would no longer be treated for federal income tax purposes as a partner with respect to those common units during the period of the loan and may recognize gain or loss from the disposition.

        Because a unitholder whose common units are loaned to a "short seller" to effect a short sale of common units may be considered as having disposed of the loaned common units, he may no longer be treated for federal income tax purposes as a partner with respect to those common units during the period of the loan to the short seller and the unitholder may recognize gain or loss from such disposition. Moreover, during the period of the loan to the short seller, any of our income, gain, loss or deduction with respect to those common units may not be reportable by the unitholder and any cash distributions received by the unitholder as to those common units could be fully taxable as ordinary income. Our counsel has not rendered an opinion regarding the treatment of a unitholder where common units are loaned to a short seller to effect a short sale of common units; therefore, our unitholders desiring to assure their status as partners and avoid the risk of gain recognition from a loan to a short seller are urged to consult a tax advisor to discuss whether it is advisable to modify any applicable brokerage account agreements to prohibit their brokers from loaning their common units.

We will adopt certain valuation methodologies and monthly conventions for federal income tax purposes that may result in a shift of income, gain, loss and deduction between our general partner and our unitholders. The IRS may challenge this treatment, which could adversely affect the value of the common units.

        When we issue additional units or engage in certain other transactions, we will determine the fair market value of our assets and allocate any unrealized gain or loss attributable to our assets to the capital accounts of our unitholders and our general partner. Our methodology may be viewed as understating the value of our assets. In that case, there may be a shift of income, gain, loss and deduction between certain unitholders and our general partner, which may be unfavorable to such unitholders. Moreover, under our valuation methods, subsequent purchasers of common units may have a greater portion of their Internal Revenue Code Section 743(b) adjustment allocated to our tangible

42

---

Table of Contents

assets and a lesser portion allocated to our intangible assets. The IRS may challenge our valuation methods, or our allocation of the Section 743(b) adjustment attributable to our tangible and intangible assets, and allocations of taxable income, gain, loss and deduction between our general partner and certain of our unitholders.

        A successful IRS challenge to these methods or allocations could adversely affect the amount of taxable income or loss being allocated to our unitholders. It also could affect the amount of taxable gain from our unitholders' sale of common units and could have a negative impact on the value of the common units or result in audit adjustments to our unitholders' tax returns without the benefit of additional deductions.

The sale or exchange of 50% or more of our capital and profits interests during any twelve-month period will result in the termination of our partnership for federal income tax purposes.

        We will be considered to have technically terminated for federal income tax purposes if there is a sale or exchange of 50% or more of the total interests in our capital and profits within a twelve-month period. For purposes of determining whether the 50% threshold has been met, multiple sales of the same interest will be counted only once. Our technical termination would, among other things, result in the closing of our taxable year for all unitholders, which would result in us filing two tax returns (and our unitholders could receive two Schedules K-1 if relief was not available, as described below) for one fiscal year and could result in a deferral of depreciation deductions allowable in computing our taxable income. In the case of a unitholder reporting on a taxable year other than a fiscal year ending December 31, the closing of our taxable year may also result in more than twelve months of our taxable income or loss being includable in his taxable income for the year of termination. A technical termination currently would not affect our classification as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, but instead we would be treated as a new partnership for such tax purposes. If treated as a new partnership, we must make new tax elections and could be subject to penalties if we are unable to determine that a termination occurred. The IRS has recently announced a publicly traded partnership technical termination relief program whereby a publicly traded partnership that technically terminated may request publicly traded partnership technical termination relief which, if granted by the IRS, among other things would permit the partnership to provide only one Schedule K-1 to unitholders for the year notwithstanding two partnership tax years. Please read "Material Federal Income Tax Consequences—Disposition of Common Units—Constructive Termination" for a discussion of the consequences of our termination for federal income tax purposes.

As a result of investing in our common units, you may become subject to state and local taxes and return filing requirements in jurisdictions where we operate or own or acquire properties.

        In addition to federal income taxes, our unitholders will likely be subject to other taxes, including state and local taxes, unincorporated business taxes and estate, inheritance or intangible taxes that are imposed by the various jurisdictions in which we conduct business or control property now or in the future, even if they do not live in any of those jurisdictions. Our unitholders will likely be required to file state and local income tax returns and pay state and local income taxes in some or all of these various jurisdictions. Further, our unitholders may be subject to penalties for failure to comply with those requirements. We initially expect to conduct business in thirteen states. Many of these states currently impose a personal income tax on individuals. Many of these states also impose an income tax on corporations and other entities. As we make acquisitions or expand our business, we may control assets or conduct business in additional states or foreign jurisdictions that impose a personal income tax. It is your responsibility to file all foreign, federal, state and local tax returns. Our counsel has not rendered an opinion on the state or local tax consequences of an investment in our common units.

43

---

Table of Contents

USE OF PROCEEDS

        We expect to receive net proceeds of approximately $             million from this offering, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses. Our estimate assumes an initial public offering price of $            per common unit and no exercise of the underwriters' option to purchase additional common units.

        We will use the net proceeds from this offering (excluding the net proceeds from any exercise of the underwriters' option to purchase additional common units) to repay $             of indebtedness outstanding under our revolving credit facility. We will incur indebtedness under our revolving credit facility to fund capital expenditures, terminate interest rate swaps related to our revolving credit facility and for working capital needs. We have incurred indebtedness from time to time under our revolving credit facility to fund capital expenditures and for working capital purposes. On December 15, 2011 we used borrowings under the facility to purchase the compression units previously leased from Caterpillar for $43 million. Prior to November 16, 2011, the revolving credit facility bore interest, at our election, at an alternate base rate, or at a rate ranging from 300 to 375 basis points above LIBOR, depending on our leverage ratio. On November 16, 2011, we amended our revolving credit facility, which increased the overall commitments under the facility from $400 million to $500 million and reduced our applicable margin for LIBOR loans to a range of 200 to 275 basis points above LIBOR, depending on our leverage ratio. At November 30, 2011, the interest rate on amounts borrowed under the revolving credit facility was 3.0%. A $1.00 increase or decrease in the initial public offering price per common unit would cause the net proceeds from the offering, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses payable by us, to increase or decrease by approximately $             million. If the initial public offering price were to exceed $            per common unit or if we were to increase the number of common units in this offering (other than through the underwriters' exercise of their option to purchase additional units), we would repay more indebtedness under our revolving credit facility. If the initial public offering price were to be less than $            per common unit or if we were to decrease the number of common units in this offering, we would repay less indebtedness under the revolving credit facility, which will increase our pro forma interest expense and reduce our cash available for distribution.

        We will use the net proceeds from any exercise of the underwriters' option to purchase additional common units to redeem from USA Compression Holdings a number of common units equal to the number of common units issued upon the exercise of the underwriters' option.

44

---

Table of Contents

CAPITALIZATION

        The following table shows:

•

our historical cash and capitalization as of September 30, 2011; and



•

our historical cash and capitalization as of September 30, 2011, as adjusted to reflect this offering, the use of the net proceeds from this offering to repay $       million of indebtedness outstanding under our revolving credit facility, and the conversion of our limited partner and general partner interests in connection with the closing of this offering as described under "Summary—Partnership Structure and Offering-Related Transactions." See "Use of Proceeds."

        We derived this table from, and it should be read in conjunction with and is qualified in its entirety by reference to, the historical financial statements and the accompanying notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. You should also read this table in conjunction with "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."

        A $1.00 increase or decrease in the initial public offering price per common unit would cause the net proceeds from the offering, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses payable by us, to increase or decrease by $             million. If the initial public offering price were to exceed $            per common unit or if we were to increase the number of common units in this offering (other than through the underwriters' exercise of their option to purchase additional units), we would repay more indebtedness under our revolving credit facility. If the initial public offering price were to be less than $            per common unit or if we were to decrease the number of common units in this offering, we would repay less indebtedness under our revolving credit facility. The pro forma information set forth above is illustrative only and following the completion of this offering will be adjusted based on the actual initial public offering price and other terms of this offering determined at pricing.

45

---

Table of Contents

DILUTION

        Dilution is the amount by which the offering price paid by the purchasers of common units sold in this offering will exceed the pro forma net tangible book value per unit after the offering. On a pro forma basis as of September 30, 2011, after giving effect to the offering of common units and the application of the related net proceeds, and assuming the underwriters' option to purchase additional common units is not exercised, our net tangible book value was $             million, or $            per unit. Purchasers of common units in this offering will experience substantial and immediate dilution in net tangible book value per common unit for financial accounting purposes, as illustrated in the following table:

        The following table sets forth the number of units that we will issue and the total consideration contributed to us by our general partner and its affiliates and by the purchasers of common units in this offering upon consummation of the transactions contemplated by this prospectus:

46

---

Table of Contents

OUR CASH DISTRIBUTION POLICY AND RESTRICTIONS ON DISTRIBUTIONS

        You should read the following discussion of our cash distribution policy in conjunction with the factors and assumptions upon which our cash distribution policy is based, which are included under the heading "—Assumptions and Considerations" below. In addition, please read "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" for information regarding statements that do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and certain risks inherent in our business. For additional information regarding our historical and pro forma operating results, you should refer to our historical financial statements and pro forma financial data, and the notes thereto, included elsewhere in this prospectus.

General

        Rationale for our cash distribution policy.    Our partnership agreement requires us to distribute all of our available cash quarterly. Our cash distribution policy reflects a judgment that our unitholders will be better served by our distributing rather than retaining our available cash. Generally, our available cash is our (i) cash on hand at the end of a quarter after the payment of our expenses and the establishment of cash reserves and (ii) cash on hand resulting from working capital borrowings made after the end of the quarter. Because we are not subject to an entity-level federal income tax, we have more cash to distribute to our unitholders than would be the case were we subject to federal income tax.

        Limitations on cash distributions and our ability to change our cash distribution policy.    There is no guarantee that our unitholders will receive quarterly distributions from us. We do not have a legal obligation to pay the minimum quarterly distribution or any other distribution except as provided in our partnership agreement. Our cash distribution policy may be changed at any time and is subject to certain restrictions, including the following:

•

our cash distribution policy may be subject to restrictions on distributions under our revolving credit facility or other debt agreements entered into in the future. Our revolving credit facility contains financial tests and covenants that we must satisfy. Should we be unable to satisfy these restrictions, we may be prohibited from making cash distributions to you notwithstanding our stated cash distribution policy. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Revolving Credit Facility;"



•

our general partner will have the authority to establish reserves for the prudent conduct of our business and for future cash distributions to our unitholders, and the establishment or increase of those reserves could result in a reduction in cash distributions to you from the levels we currently anticipate pursuant to our stated distribution policy. Any determination to establish cash reserves made by our general partner in good faith will be binding on our unitholders;



•

although our partnership agreement requires us to distribute all of our available cash, our partnership agreement, including the provisions requiring us to make cash distributions contained therein, may be amended. Our partnership agreement generally may not be amended during the subordination period without the approval of our public common unitholders. However, our partnership agreement can be amended with the consent of our general partner and the approval of a majority of the outstanding common units (including common units held by USA Compression Holdings) after the subordination period has ended. At the closing of this offering, USA Compression Holdings will own our general partner and will own an aggregate of approximately        % of our outstanding common and subordinated units;



•

even if our cash distribution policy is not modified or revoked, the amount of distributions we pay under our cash distribution policy and the decision to make any distribution is determined by our general partner, taking into consideration the terms of our partnership agreement;



•

under Section 17-607 of the Delaware Act, we may not make a distribution to you if the distribution would cause our liabilities to exceed the fair value of our assets;

47

---

Table of Contents

•

we may lack sufficient cash to pay distributions to our unitholders due to cash flow shortfalls attributable to a number of operational, commercial or other factors as well as increases in our operating or general and administrative expense, principal and interest payments on our debt, tax expenses, working capital requirements and anticipated cash needs. Our cash available for distribution to unitholders is directly impacted by our cash expenses necessary to run our business and will be reduced dollar-for-dollar to the extent such uses of cash increase. Our general partner is entitled to reimbursement of all direct and indirect expenses incurred on our behalf, which we expect to be approximately $                        for the twelve months ending December 31, 2012;



•

if and to the extent our cash available for distribution materially declines, we may elect to reduce our quarterly distribution in order to service or repay our debt or fund expansion capital expenditures; and



•

all available cash distributed by us on any date from any source will be treated as distributed from operating surplus until the sum of all available cash distributed since the closing of this offering equals the operating surplus from the closing of this offering through the end of the quarter immediately preceding that distribution. We anticipate that distributions from operating surplus will generally not represent a return of capital. However, operating surplus includes certain components, including a $         million cash basket, that represent non-operating sources of cash. Accordingly, it is possible that return of capital distributions could be made from operating surplus. Any cash distributed by us in excess of operating surplus will be deemed to be capital surplus under our partnership agreement. Our partnership agreement treats a distribution of capital surplus as the repayment of the initial unit price from this initial public offering, which is a return of capital. We do not anticipate that we will make any distributions from capital surplus.

        Our ability to grow is dependent on our ability to access external expansion capital.    Our partnership agreement requires us to distribute all of our available cash to our unitholders. As a result, we expect that we will rely primarily upon external financing sources, including commercial bank borrowings and the issuance of debt and equity securities, to fund our acquisitions and expansion capital expenditures. To the extent we are unable to finance growth externally, our cash distribution policy will significantly impair our ability to grow. In addition, because we distribute all of our available cash, our growth may not be as fast as that of businesses that reinvest their available cash to expand ongoing operations. To the extent we issue additional units in connection with any acquisitions or expansion capital expenditures, the payment of distributions on those additional units may increase the risk that we will be unable to maintain or increase our per unit distribution level. There are no limitations in our partnership agreement or our revolving credit facility on our ability to issue additional units, including units ranking senior to the common units. The incurrence of additional commercial borrowings or other debt to finance our growth strategy would result in increased interest expense, which in turn may impact the available cash that we have to distribute to our unitholders.

Our Minimum Quarterly Distribution

        Upon completion of this offering, the board of directors of our general partner will establish a minimum quarterly distribution of $          per unit per complete quarter, or $          per unit per year, to be paid no later than 45 days after the end of each fiscal quarter beginning with the quarter ending                   . This equates to an aggregate cash distribution of approximately $           million per quarter, or approximately $           million per year, based on the number of common and subordinated units and the 2.0% general partner interest to be outstanding immediately after the completion of this offering. Our ability to make cash distributions equal to the minimum quarterly distribution pursuant to this policy will be subject to the factors described above under the caption "—General—Limitations on Cash Distributions and Our Ability to Change Our Distribution Policy."

48

---

Table of Contents

        If the underwriters' option to purchase additional common units is exercised, we will issue additional common units to the public and use the net proceeds to redeem an equivalent number of common units from USA Compression Holdings. Accordingly, the exercise of the underwriters' option will not affect the total number of units outstanding or the amount of cash needed to pay the minimum quarterly distribution on all units. Please read "Underwriting."

        Initially, our general partner will be entitled to 2.0% of all distributions that we make prior to our liquidation. In the future, our general partner's initial 2.0% interest in these distributions may be reduced if we issue additional units and our general partner does not contribute a proportionate amount of capital to us to maintain its initial 2.0% general partner interest.

        The table below sets forth the number of outstanding common units, subordinated units and general partner units upon the closing of this offering and the aggregate distribution amounts payable on such units at our minimum quarterly distribution rate of $          per unit per quarter ($          per unit on an annualized basis).

        The subordination period generally will end if we have earned and paid at least $            on each outstanding common unit and subordinated unit and the corresponding distribution on our general partner's 2.0% interest for each of three consecutive, non-overlapping four-quarter periods ending on or after December 31, 2014. If, in respect of any quarter, we have earned and paid at least $            (150.0% of the annualized minimum quarterly distribution) on each outstanding common unit and subordinated unit and the corresponding distribution on our general partner's 2.0% interest and the related distribution on the incentive distributions rights for the four-quarter period immediately preceding that date, the subordination period will terminate automatically and all of the subordinated units will convert into an equal number of common units. Please read the "Provisions of our Partnership Agreement Relating to Cash Distributions—Subordination Period."

        If we do not pay the minimum quarterly distribution on our common units, our common unitholders will not be entitled to receive such payments in the future except during the subordination period. To the extent we have available cash in any future quarter during the subordination period in excess of the amount necessary to pay the minimum quarterly distribution to holders of our common units, we will use this excess available cash to pay any distribution arrearages related to prior quarters before any cash distribution is made to holders of subordinated units. Our subordinated units will not accrue arrearages for unpaid quarterly distributions or quarterly distributions less than the minimum quarterly distribution. Please read "Provisions of our Partnership Agreement Relating to Cash Distributions—Subordination Period."

        Our cash distribution policy, as expressed in our partnership agreement, may not be modified or repealed without amending our partnership agreement. The actual amount of our cash distributions for any quarter is subject to fluctuations based on the amount of cash we generate from our business and the amount of reserves our general partner establishes in accordance with our partnership agreement as described above. We do not anticipate that our general partner will establish cash reserves as of the closing of this offering or during the year ending December 31, 2012. We will pay our distributions on or about the 15^th of each of February, May, August and November to holders of record on or about the

49

---

Table of Contents

1^st of each such month. If the distribution date does not fall on a business day, we will make the distribution on the business day immediately preceding the indicated distribution date. We will adjust the quarterly distribution for the period from the closing of this offering through December 31, 2011 based on the actual length of the period.

        In the sections that follow, we present in detail the basis for our belief that we will be able to fully fund our minimum quarterly distribution of $              per unit each quarter for the year ending December 31, 2012. In those sections, we present two tables, consisting of:

•

"Unaudited Pro Forma Cash Available for Distribution," in which we present the amount of cash we would have had available for distribution on a pro forma basis for our fiscal year ended December 31, 2010 and the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, derived from our unaudited pro forma financial data included in this prospectus, as adjusted to give pro forma effect to the offering and the offering-related transactions; and



•

"Estimated Cash Available for Distribution," in which we demonstrate our ability to generate the minimum estimated Adjusted EBITDA necessary for us to pay the minimum quarterly distribution on all units for each quarter for the year ending December 31, 2012.

Pro Forma Cash Available for Distribution for the Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2010 and September 30, 2011

        If we had completed the transactions contemplated in this prospectus on January 1, 2010, our pro forma cash available for distribution for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010 and September 30, 2011 would have been approximately $31.4 million and $33.7 million, respectively. This amount would have been sufficient to pay the full minimum quarterly distribution on all of the common units for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010 and September 30, 2011, but would have been insufficient by approximately $         million and $         million, respectively, to pay the full minimum quarterly distribution on the subordinated units for these periods.

        The pro forma financial statements, upon which pro forma cash available for distribution is based, do not purport to present our results of operations had the transactions contemplated in this prospectus actually been completed as of the dates indicated. Furthermore, cash available for distribution is a cash accounting concept, while our pro forma financial statements have been prepared on an accrual basis. We derived the amounts of pro forma cash available for distribution shown above in the manner described in the table below. As a result, the amount of pro forma cash available for distribution should only be viewed as a general indication of the amount of cash available for distribution that we might have generated had we been formed in earlier periods. Please see our unaudited pro forma financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.

        The following table illustrates, on a pro forma basis, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010 and September 30, 2011, the amount of available cash (without any reserve) that would have been available for distribution to our unitholders, assuming that the offering had been consummated on January 1, 2010. The pro forma adjustments presented below give effect to (i) this offering and the related transactions, (ii) our sale to USA Compression Holdings in December 2010, and the related amendment to our revolving credit facility and (iii) the entry into the second amendment to our revolving credit facility in November 2011. Pro forma Adjusted EBITDA and pro forma cash available for distribution are further adjusted to give effect to (i) the purchase on December 15, 2011 of the compression units previously leased from Caterpillar for $43 million and (ii) the termination of interest rate swaps related to our revolving credit facility in connection with the closing of this offering. Certain of the adjustments are explained in further detail in the footnotes to such adjustments.

50

---

Table of Contents

Unaudited Pro Forma Cash Available for Distribution

51

---

Table of Contents

Estimated Cash Available for Distribution for the Year Ending December 31, 2012

        As a result of the factors described in this section and in "—Assumptions and Considerations" below, we believe we will be able to pay the minimum quarterly distribution on all of our common units, subordinated units and general partner units for each quarter in the year ending December 31, 2012.

        In order to pay the minimum quarterly distribution of $        per unit on all our common units, subordinated units and general partner units for four quarters, we estimate that our Adjusted EBITDA

52

---

Table of Contents

for the year ending December 31, 2012 must be at least $         million. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered an alternative to net income, operating income, cash flows from operating activities or any other measure of financial performance calculated in accordance with GAAP, as those items are used to measure our operating performance, liquidity or ability to service debt obligations. Please read "Selected Historical and Pro Forma Financial and Operating Data—Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for an explanation of Adjusted EBITDA.

        We also anticipate that if our Adjusted EBITDA for such period is at or above our estimate, we would be permitted to make the minimum quarterly distributions on all the common units, subordinated units and general partner units under the applicable covenants, if any, under our revolving credit facility.

        We believe we will generate estimated Adjusted EBITDA of $60.6 million for the year ending December 31, 2012, which includes approximately $3.1 million of estimated incremental cash expense associated with being a publicly traded partnership. You should read "—Assumptions and Considerations" below for a discussion of the material assumptions underlying this belief, which reflects our judgment of conditions we expect to exist and the course of action we expect to take. If our estimate is not achieved, we may not be able to pay the minimum quarterly distribution on all our units. We can give you no assurance that our assumptions will be realized or that we will generate the $             million in Adjusted EBITDA required to pay the minimum quarterly distribution on all our common units, subordinated units and general partner units for the four-quarter period ending December 31, 2012. There will likely be differences between our estimates and the actual results we will achieve, and those differences could be material. If we do not generate the estimated Adjusted EBITDA or if our maintenance capital expenditures or interest expense are higher than estimated, we may not be able to pay the minimum quarterly distribution on all units for the four-quarter period ending December 31, 2012.

        When considering our ability to generate our estimated Adjusted EBITDA of $60.6 million, you should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in this prospectus. Any of these factors or the other risks discussed in this prospectus could cause our results of operations and cash available for distribution to our unitholders to vary significantly from those set forth below.

        We do not as a matter of course make public projections as to future revenues, earnings, or other results of operations. However, our management has prepared the prospective financial information set forth below to present the estimated cash available for distribution for the year ending December 31, 2012. The accompanying prospective financial information was not prepared with a view toward public disclosure or with a view toward complying with the guidelines established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants with respect to prospective financial information, but, in the view of our management, was prepared on a reasonable basis, reflects the best currently available estimates and judgments, and presents, to the best of our management's knowledge and belief, the expected course of action and our expected future financial performance. However, this information is not fact and should not be relied upon as being necessarily indicative of future results, and readers of this prospectus are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the prospective financial information.

        Neither our independent auditors, nor any other independent accountants, have compiled, examined, or performed any procedures with respect to the prospective financial information contained herein, nor have they expressed any opinion or any other form of assurance on such information or its achievability, and assume no responsibility for, and disclaim any association with, the prospective financial information.

        We do not undertake any obligation to release publicly the results of any future revisions we may make to the financial forecast or to update this financial forecast to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this prospectus. In light of the above, the statement that we believe that we will have sufficient cash available for distribution to allow us to make the full minimum quarterly distribution on all our outstanding common units, subordinated units and general partner units for the four-quarter period ending December 31, 2012 should not be regarded as a representation by us or the underwriters or any other person that we will make such distributions.

53

---

Table of Contents

        The following table shows how we calculate the estimated Adjusted EBITDA necessary to pay the minimum quarterly distribution on all our common units, subordinated units and general partner units for the four quarters ending December 31, 2012. Our estimated Adjusted EBITDA presents the forecasted results of operations of USA Compression Partners, LP for the year ending December 31, 2012. Our assumptions that we believe are relevant to particular line items in the table below are explained in the corresponding footnotes and in "—Assumptions and Considerations."

Estimated Cash Available for Distribution

54

---

Table of Contents

Assumptions and Considerations

        Based on a number of specific assumptions, we believe that, following completion of this offering, we will have sufficient cash available for distribution to allow us to make the full minimum quarterly distribution on all our outstanding common units, subordinated units and general partner units for the four-quarter period ending December 31, 2012. We believe that our assumptions, which include the following, are reasonable:

        Contract operations revenue.    We estimate that our contract operations revenue will be $113.8 million for the year ending December 31, 2012, as compared to $91.5 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 on a pro forma basis. The anticipated increase in our revenue is based upon the following assumptions:

•

we expect to add significant new compression unit horsepower from September 30, 2011 through December 31, 2012, substantially all of which will be comprised of units greater than 1,000 horsepower, as we believe we will have strong demand for compression services in shale plays in the U.S.;



•

our estimated revenue generating horsepower is based upon (i) customer commitments representing approximately         % of the 188,762 increase in revenue generating horsepower from September 30, 2011 to December 31, 2012, (ii) customer indications of horsepower needs related to their shorter-term field development drilling commitments and processing and transportation requirements and (iii) general discussions with our customers regarding their longer-term planned field development and enhancement programs; and



•

the actual amount of revenue generating horsepower as of September 30, 2011, and the estimated amount of revenue generating horsepower for each quarter in the year ending December 31, 2012, is as follows:

55

---

Table of Contents