The Railroad Commission said it has launched an investigation into Atmos.
AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott has called for an investigation into Atmos Energy after many Texans dealt with low gas pressure, or in some cases no gas pressure, during blistering cold temperatures last Friday.
Issues with gas were reported throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area and in parts of Central Texas when an arctic blast hit the state.
The Texas Railroad Commission of Texas, which regulates gas distribution, said last Friday that it was aware of low gas pressure issues due to the high demand and that Atmos had been working on resolving the issues.
Gov. Abbott asked both the Railroad Commission and office of Attorney General Ken Paxton to investigate Atmos Energy and its “unacceptable” response to the arctic weather.
“Many customers of Atmos Energy in north and central Texas went without natural gas for an unacceptable time because of failures by Atmos to provide adequate residential and commercial gas services,” Abbott said in separate letters to Railroad Commission chair Christi Craddick and Paxton.
In a statement Wednesday evening, the Railroad Commission said it has launched an investigation into Atmos’ performance during the winter weather event.
Abbott went on to mention how the city of Grand Prairie had to open up a warming center for residents who were without heat due to the gas issues.
Grand Prairie Mayor Ron Jensen voiced his frustrations regarding the issues.
“Something is wrong with the system when the only provider in the state of Texas can’t give me eight hours worth of gas,” Jensen told WFAA.
WFAA viewers had also reported issues in cities such as Little Elm, Fort Worth and Arlington.
“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,” Abbott said in his letter. “Even during coordination calls of the Texas Energy Reliability Council, Atmos Energy did not properly communicate the extent of its failure or request for the Council’s help.”
Atmos Energy released a statement after Abbott’s call for investigations.
“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.”
In a statement specifically to the Railroad Commission, Abbott said: “Atmos’ conduct is unacceptable, and concrete action must be taken by the RRC to ensure it is not repeated the next time that winter weather engulfs our state.”
The Railroad Commission said it requested the following details from Atmos as part of the investigation: