Texas Governor Calls For Probe of Atmos Energy in Wake of Freeze

Abbott sent letters to the Texas attorney general and chair of the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the state’s massive oil and gas industry, asking the agencies to examine why Atmos was unable to provide natural gas services to customers. Residents around the state capital of Austin and across central Texas lost gas service needed to operate furnaces, stoves and water heaters early Friday.

“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 letter to the Railroad Commission reads.

“Substantial evidence supports the conclusion that Atmos Energy either was unprepared for the winter weather system, failed to perform for its customers as promised, or both,” the letter to the Attorney General reads.

An Atmos spokesperson said the company “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 disruption.”

The spokesperson said Atmos will work with regulators and key stakeholders to address what went wrong. The Railroad Commission said it has launched an investigation into the matter.