North Texas State Rep. questioning Atmos Energy gas shortage

DALLAS — State Rep. Chris Turner (D-Grand Prairie) has publicized a letter he despatched to Atmos Energy President and CEO Kevin Akers, noting issues relating to widespread gas shortages a lot of his constituents skilled throughout December’s arctic blast. 

Turner stated he had critical issues relating to Atmos’ “continued inability to supply adequate natural gas service,” evidenced by the blast which hit North Texas on Dec. 22 and Dec. 23. 

“Amid last month’s freezing temperatures, low gas pressure caused residents in Grand Prairie and Arlington to lose gas service, meaning they had no means to heat their homes during dangerously cold temperatures,” Turner wrote. 

Turner stated he was significantly alarmed the town of Grand Prairie misplaced gas strain for crucial infrastructure, together with two hearth stations. 

“This was beyond an inconvenience – the fire department had to take extraordinary measures to prevent water in tanker trucks from freezing so they could continue to be prepared to respond to a fire,” Turner wrote. 

Atmos had assured prospects following the lack of service throughout the winter storm in February 2021 that fortification tasks would stop anymore stability points — together with tasks for the Grand Peninsula/Mira Lagos space of Grand Prairie. Turner stated these led him and others to imagine there wouldn’t be a repeat of crucial pure gas shortages, however that was not the case. 

Atmos additionally didn’t ship gas to a number of southeast Arlington neighborhoods, Turner stated, and each Arlington and Grand Prairie needed to open warming stations for residents unable to warmth their houses. 

For these causes, Turner stated the investigation opened by the Railroad Commission of Texas is totally warranted, and that he has a number of questions for Atmos. 

Questions requested embrace why there was a gas shortage in any respect, why neither metropolis obtained proactive communication from Atmos Energy and what Atmos’ plan is to compensate prospects and to compensate the cities of Arlington and Grand Prairie for unanticipated bills.

“Unlike Winter Storm Uri, which was an extraordinary event that led to multiple system failures across the state, the December 2022 event was a relatively brief cold weather snap,” Turner wrote. “In fact, the DFW area was nowhere close to experiencing record low temperatures. There was nothing especially unusual about this weather event, which raises serious questions about why Atmos had such a hard time delivering natural gas supply.”