Atmos Energy asks North Texas customers to reduce natural gas usage to avoid outages
As record low temperatures and unprecedented electric use across Texas this week has led to a limited availability of power, there are emerging concerns over the supply of natural gas that heats many people’s homes.
Some Texans said on Twitter they have received multiple texts from Atmos, with suggestions to cut back like turning the thermostat to 68. Many people indicated they felt this was a lot to ask considering they have already been asked to limit power or limit water.
Atmos said in a news release on Wednesday there have been continuing problems with the supply of natural gas. The gas restraints, Atmos said in the release, could lead to service outages for some customers, which could take an extended period of time to fix.
Once the gas supply comes back to its normal levels, Atmos said, technicians will need to visit each home that lost service in order to restore the gas.
The city of Fort Worth passed along Atmos’ message in a news release on Thursday, providing several gas conservation tips such as lowering the water heater temperature to 120 degrees and never using an over or gas stovetop to heat a home.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price posted this release on Twitter on Thursday afternoon and wrote that those who can practice gas conservation can “help maintain service for our most critical human needs customers.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2021 at 2:20 PM.
