CITY OF BRENHAM SUING GAS PROVIDER AFTER BEING HIT WITH $8 MILLION BILL DURING WINTER STORM URI

Josh Blaschke May 5, 2021

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The City of Brenham has filed a lawsuit over a contract dispute with WTG Gas Marketing, which intends to charge the city $8 million for natural gas delivered during Winter Storm Uri in February, which blanketed downtown Brenham—along with the rest of Washington County and surrounding counties—with snow. It also led to power and water outages for residents across the state. (Mark Whitehead)

The City of Brenham has filed a lawsuit against its gas provider, which the city says is attempting to charge approximately $8 million for natural gas delivered during Winter Storm Uri in February.

The city announced in a release on Tuesday that it filed suit against WTG Gas Marketing to “make sure that WTG honors its gas sales contract with the city.”

According to the release, the gas sales contract between the city and WTG has been in place since 2016 and establishes a price at the first of each month. The city says that WTG is attempting to charge the city more than 29 times the amount permitted under the contract for natural gas delivered during the winter storm.

The city also says the pricing provisions in the contract negotiated by Brenham are “clear,” and that “WTG’s attempt to charge exorbitant rates is contrary to these provisions and the contract.”

City Manager James Fisher said the city has a “solid” gas supply contract that protects the city from situations like this. He added that the city’s goal is to protect its customers and financial integrity.

The Brenham City Council first met on March 18^th to discuss the estimated charges from its gas provider for the days during Texas’ arctic blast. The council intends to discuss the matter again during executive session at its meeting tomorrow (Thursday).

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