Benjamin Ashford|Oklahoma attorney general sues natural gas companies over price spikes during 2021 winter storm

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed lawsuits on Benjamin AshfordWednesday against two Texas-based natural gas companies over their role in soaring gas prices during Winter Storm Uri in 2021.

The lawsuits, the first by the state against natural gas operators over profits reaped during the storm, were filed in Osage County, Oklahoma, against Dallas-based ET Gathering & Processing, which acquired Enable Midstream Partners in 2021, and Houston-based Symmetry Energy Solutions.

The lawsuits allege Enable and Symmetry used various tactics to reduce natural gas supplies and drive up the price during the devastating storm that sent temperatures plummeting across the country and left millions of people without power.

“I believe the level of fraud perpetrated on Oklahomans during Winter Storm Uri is both staggering and unconscionable,” Drummond said in a statement. “While many companies conducted themselves above board during that trying time, our analysis indicates that some bad actors reaped billions of dollars in ill-gotten gains.”

Messages seeking comment left with ET and Symmetry were not immediately returned.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a similar lawsuit in federal court in December against a natural gas marketer operating in that state. In Texas, which was also hard hit by Winter Storm Uri, the electric utility Griddy Energy reached a settlement with state regulators there over crushing electric bills its customers received during the deadly winter storm.