New Mexico Gas Co. may have done everything in its power to avert the crisis that left more than 25,000 homes and businesses without natural gas for the last few days, but it didn't communicate the emergency fast enough to its customers or ask the state for help when it should have, some legislators on the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee said Monday.

The committee also asked the company to establish claims offices in towns affected by the crisis to better help residents who will be seeking compensation for losses suffered during the natural-gas outage. New Mexico Gas Co. officials said a claims phone line and link on the company's website is up and running.

For more than two hours, New Mexico Gas representatives answered legislators' questions about what caused last week's service interruption during bitterly cold weather. An official from El Paso Natural Gas, the company that manages the huge interstate pipeline delivering gas across the Southwest, also spoke.

New Mexico Gas purchased a lot more natural gas ahead of the freeze, asked large-scale customers to reduce their use as the emergency expanded and then made an 11th-hour decision to shut off gas to some communities to preserve what was left in the system rather than lose service to everyone. Pressure in the lines declined so rapidly from about 9 a.m. Feb. 2 until 10 a.m. Thursday that the company's focus was on trying to keep enough gas in lines to not turn anyone off.

It was to no avail. By 10:30 a.m. Thursday, people from several towns, including Bernalillo, Placitas, Española and Taos, and many surrounding villages, had their natural gas shut off.

No warning for gas customers

The company lacked an automated-call system that could have alerted customers as the emergency developed. It also waited until the crisis reached a peak before calling for help from the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Response. "We probably should have had the Department of Homeland Security involved earlier," said Tom Domme, New Mexico Gas vice president and general counsel. "But then if we had received an infusion of gas Wednesday night, we wouldn't be in this position."

The company directed people to the New Mexico Gas website for information, but that only helped people who had access to computers.

On Monday, Rep. Debbie Rodella, D-Española, had one question for New Mexico Gas Co. officials and a comment: "People in La Mesilla, where I live, have been without natural gas for five days," she said. "Realistically, how long before you can get gas back on for everyone? Can you do it before the storm tomorrow?"

New Mexico Gas officials said they were trying to make it to every household by today, but they couldn't guarantee anything.

Rodella's comment: "Right now, there's no confidence in your company."

16,000 people still lack service

Some 16,000 customers entered their fifth day without natural gas on Monday, and more than 745 workers were in the field trying to get meters back on and check pilot lights.

Gov. Susana Martinez told reporters after the hearing that the state was talking to the Federal Emergency Management Agency but had yet to apply officially for funds. She said the state had to show $2.4 million in damages not covered by other insurance to qualify for FEMA assistance.

Martinez said New Mexico Gas Co. had been slow to accept the state's offer of National Guard personnel and volunteer firefighters to help with turning on meters and checking pilots. She said she was frustrated that 16,000 customers were still without gas and called the delay "unacceptable." "They gave us their word that they would be done by Sunday," the governor said.

Preparations for cold snap fall short

The natural-gas crisis grew out of a cold front that dropped freezing temperatures across the Southwest. New Mexico hadn't experienced multiple days of such cold weather since 1971.

Natural-gas suppliers and purchasers knew a cold front was coming. Janice Parker, spokeswoman for El Paso Natural Gas, said notices went out to that utility's customers Jan. 31. New Mexico Gas ordered more gas than its computer models predicted it would need and had gas stored in a salt basin in West Texas. The company thought it was prepared.

But it wasn't prepared for the wide-ranging problems the freeze would cause across multiple states beginning Feb. 1.

Natural-gas supplies from the San Juan Basin and from the Permian Basin declined as wells froze or were turned off to prevent freezing, Parker said.

With temperatures dropping Feb. 1 and demand rising, New Mexico Gas began calling to see what it could do to protect deliveries. "New Mexico Gas was in constant contact," Parker said. "They were probably the most proactive customer we had."

Under a New Mexico Public Regulation Commission rule, New Mexico Gas has a plan that lays out who is curtailed first when there is decreased gas. First are large customers such as The University of New Mexico and Kirtland Air Force base. They were asked to voluntarily switch to other fuels and lower thermostats. The last customers who should be cut off are residents and health facilities.

'It was a downward spiral'

But over the next few hours, New Mexico Gas had to skip the curtailment plan and go into emergency mode.

On the morning of Feb. 2, El Paso Natural Gas was alerted that cold temperatures had frozen the mechanical parts on two coal-fired plants providing power to El Paso Electric, according to Parker. The utility began making half-hour to one-hour rolling blackouts, which affected a large natural-gas processing plant, she said.

While the power outage was short-lived, it was long enough in the sub-zero weather for the natural gas in the line to ice up. That took out one big source of new natural-gas supplies for the El Paso Natural Gas pipeline, Parker said. And as natural-gas supplies were pulled off the pipeline, there was less going in to replace it. "We had all the supplies confirmed, but they physically didn't show up," Parker said. "It was a downward spiral."

Parker said El Paso Natural Gas has natural-gas-fired compressors every 50 miles, and those have backup generators.

But two New Mexico Gas compressors powered by El Paso Electric and serving the Alamogordo area lost electricity during the rolling blackouts.

Pressures had dropped so low by Wednesday night, people all over the state were cranking up their thermostats to 80 degrees and noticing no heat. Without enough pressure in the lines, the gas couldn't reach customers.

The company had to decrease demand to try and preserve pressure in some places or face an entire system failure, said Tommy Sanders, New Mexico Gas Co. director of gas supply and transmission. At 7:24 a.m. Wednesday, the company went into emergency mode and began formally shutting off meters.

Town of Bernalillo Mayor Jack Torres said he still wondered who made the decision to turn off the gas to his community and why. "This has been a nightmare," he told the committee, noting residents now have natural gas, but City Hall still didn't on Monday.

Many people from the communities affected by the shut-offs are wondering the same thing and want answers.

Rep. Brian Egolf, the committee chairman, said after the hearing, "It is clear that power disruptions in Texas led to the current crisis. Determining the cause of the Texas electrical disruptions remains critical to making sure this never happens again."

Reporter Trip Jennings contributed to this report.

Contact Staci Matlock at 986-3055 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.


ON THE WEB

• For more information on the status of natural-gas service and how to file claims, go to www.nmgco.com.