AUSTIN, Texas — Some natural gas facilities and pipelines must have winter weatherization plans in place, but the law leaves loopholes.
The Railroad Commission of Texas regulates oil and natural gas in the State.
During the deadly February 2021 winter storm, some critical natural gas facilities and pipelines froze, leading to additional blackouts around the state.
Texas lawmakers told the Railroad Commission to create weatherization standards. The commissioners agreed to allow those standards to be facility-specific. Only what’s deemed “Critical Designation of Natural Gas Infrastructure” will need to be weatherized.
The Railroad Commission issued a best practices guide. Although, the guide is not an enforceable document.
The Texas Administrative Code shows the weatherization standards are “using methods a reasonably prudent operator would take given the type of facility, the age of the facility, the facility's critical components, the facility's location, and weather data for the facility's county or counties such as data developed for the Commission by the state climatologist.”
The companies submit their plans to the Railroad Commission.
The penalty for violations can reach $1 million. However, the code-referenced tally sheet shows fines starting at $3,000. The guideline lists different violation factors with varying weights.