What affects my natural gas bill?
Whether your bill is $30 or $300, Atmos Energy charges about the same amount each month for delivering your natural gas. Residential customers pay, on average, between 15 percent and 20 percent of their winter gas bills for our distribution service. Most customers also are charged from 5 percent to 10 percent for state or local taxes and franchise fees assessed by their city or county.

The largest portion of your bill is the cost of the natural gas that you use. Typically, that amount appears on your bill as Purchased Gas Adjustment, Gas Cost Adjustment or Gas Cost Recovery. We buy natural gas on commodity markets at wholesale prices. We pass on the cost of the gas to all our customers on a dollar-for-dollar basis and do not mark up the price of gas or make a profit on it.

We store natural gas in underground facilities and contract for future gas deliveries. Our gas storage and supply contracts, known as hedging, provide about half of the gas supply that our customers use each winter. Hedging helps ensure that we will have sufficient fuel to meet peak winter demands. It also helps keep your gas cost as economical as possible. learn more

Atmos Energy works to keep natural gas costs low, but we do not set gas prices. Because natural gas is traded on commodity markets, its price reacts quickly to events like higher oil prices, colder weather and hurricanes that affect offshore gas production. learn more

Natural gas prices have gone up in recent years primarily for two reasons: 1.) Federal environmental laws have raised the demand by electric power generators for clean-burning natural gas. 2.) At the same time, other federal laws have prevented gas producers from finding and tapping new sources of natural gas. learn more

Why should I choose natural gas?
Even at higher prices, the demand for natural gas has remained strong among consumers.

Natural gas offers the most comfort and efficiency. Natural gas heating keeps you and your family warm in the winter. Cooking on a natural gas range offers precise control. And natural gas water heaters and clothes dryers provide a more energy-efficient means to make your life more comfortable.

Natural gas clearly remains the most valuable fuel source in American homes today. learn more

Can you help me understand my Atmos Energy bill?
Your natural gas bill has the following three main parts:

• our charge for distributing natural gas to you, called DISTRIBUTION SERVICE;
• the cost for the natural gas based on the volume you consumed, called PURCHASED GAS ADJUSTMENT, GAS COST ADJUSTMENT or GAS COST RECOVERY;
• any taxes, franchise fees or other charges.

How does natural gas affect the environment?
Energy is the lifeblood of our economy, and natural gas accounts for about one-fourth of our country’s needs. Natural gas is the cleanest-burning fossil fuel. It produces primarily carbon dioxide, water vapor and small amounts of nitrogen oxides. Other fossil fuels are coal and oil, which together with natural gas, account for about 88 percent of the energy consumption in the United States. The use of natural gas in electric power generation has increased because it is a clean-burning energy source and easy to transport. However, this growth in demand also has pushed up natural gas costs in recent years.

Do we import natural gas from other countries?
About 97 percent of the natural gas consumed in the United States comes from North America—84 percent from producing wells in this country and 13 percent from Canada. This continent’s abundant supply of natural gas helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil imports by 4.5 million barrels a day. However, because of the growing demand for natural gas, it’s likely that more of our future gas supplies will come from other countries in the form of liquefied natural gas. LNG, which is transported over the ocean in special LNG tanker ships, provides 3 percent of our national supply today. learn more