The huge natural gas bills accumulated during the Texas freeze have sparked a wave of lawsuits across the country as companies argue over who is responsible for the tab.
Since the February storm, at least 30 lawsuits have been filed in four states over natural gas contracts, which cut power for millions of Texans and pushed gas prices to their highest levels in years. Collectively billions of dollars are at stake.
The lawsuits have exposed the tremendous pressure the storm’s financial impact has exerted on natural gas suppliers and customers, including public utilities and others. The majority of the lawsuits are in the Texas courts and involve some of the world’s largest energy companies and traders, including Exxon Mobil Corp., Koch Industries Inc., BP PLC and Vitol.
Some lawsuits allege that gas suppliers engaged in price gouging during the storm, overcharging utilities. Some vendors, such as ConocoPhillips, in turn sue utility companies and others for unpaid bills.
Other lawsuits concern whether companies should be released from their contractual obligations to provide gas for part of February, when freezing temperatures have shut down much of Texas’s energy infrastructure. Legal analysts expect more lawsuits to be filed in the coming weeks.