Gov. Greg Abbott is calling for an investigation into Atmos Energy for failing to deliver natural gas to many Texans during blistering cold temperatures last Friday.
Many Texans throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area and parts of Central Texas reported low gas pressure, or in some cases no gas pressure at all, when a cold snap hit the state and sent temperatures plummeting below freezing.
Some North Texas cities, like Grand Prairie, opened warming centers for residents experiencing very low natural gas pressure.
Gov. Abbott on Wednesday shared two letters he sent to Attorney General Ken Paxton and Christi Craddick, chair of the Railroad Commission of Texas.
Abbott asked each of their offices to look into what he called “failures by Atmos to provide adequate residential and commercial gas service.”
In the letter to the attorney general, Abbott wrote, “Prior to and during the recent winter weather system, State of Texas agencies worked around the clock to mobilize resources and assist utilities in any way possible. At no time did Atmos Energy request assistance.”
The governor emphasized, “Even during coordination calls of the Texas Energy Reliability Council, Atmos Energy did not properly communicate the extent of its failure or request the Council’s help.”
“It is apparent that Atmos Energy acted irresponsibly and was unprepared for the event,” Abbott alleged.
He urged the Railroad Commission, which regulates the state’s gas distribution, to take “concrete action” to ensure the issues are not “repeated the next time that winter weather engulfs our state.”
The Railroad Commission said on December 23 that it was aware of low gas pressure issues due to the high demand and that Atmos had been working on resolving the problems.
Atmos reported that gas pressure had returned to normal as of early that afternoon, according to the Railroad Commission.
While Paxton’s office has yet to comment on Abbott’s call for an investigation, the Railroad Commission said on Wednesday it had launched an investigation into Atmos.
The Railroad Commission said it requested the following details from Atmos as part of the investigation into its performance during the winter weather event:
- A detailed account of the number and location of customers whose service was negatively impacted and the duration of such impact.
- Detailed explanations of the cause of low pressure or other issues negatively impacting natural gas service in each location.
- Status and data of pipeline and system capacity to meet demand growth in the areas.
- Atmos’ plan to address the issues so that interruptions to natural gas service will not occur again in the future, with estimated costs and a timeline to remedy the cause.
Atmos Energy released the following statement late Wednesday after Gov. Abbott’s call for an investigation:
“We take seriously our responsibility to provide safe and reliable natural gas services as well as to be a trusted partner in the communities we serve. That responsibility includes undertaking operational planning and preparation to provide such safe and reliable service all throughout the year.”
“Despite those preparations, last week, we fell short for some of our customers who experienced interruptions in their natural gas service. That is not acceptable. And though we worked to restore service as quickly and safely as possible, we apologize for that service disruption.”
“We are committed to working with our regulators and key stakeholders to address those issues in order to provide reliable natural gas service to all our customers.”