DALLAS — State Rep. Chris Turner (D-Grand Prairie) has publicized a letter he sent to Atmos Energy President and CEO Kevin Akers, noting concerns regarding widespread gas shortages many of his constituents experienced during December's arctic blast.
Turner said he had serious concerns regarding 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 said he was particularly alarmed the city of Grand Prairie lost gas pressure for critical infrastructure, including two fire 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 customers following the loss of service during the winter storm in February 2021 that fortification projects would prevent anymore stability issues -- including projects for the Grand Peninsula/Mira Lagos area of Grand Prairie. Turner said these led him and others to believe there would not be a repeat of critical natural gas shortages, but that was not the case.
Atmos also failed to deliver gas to several southeast Arlington neighborhoods, Turner said, and both Arlington and Grand Prairie had to open warming stations for residents unable to heat their homes.
For these reasons, Turner said the investigation opened by the Railroad Commission of Texas is completely warranted, and that he has several questions for Atmos.
Questions asked include why there was a gas shortage at all, why neither city received proactive communication from Atmos Energy and what Atmos' plan is to compensate customers and to compensate the cities of Arlington and Grand Prairie for unanticipated expenses.
"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."