Enterprise Products Partners LP on April 26 sued CPS Energy, a San Antonio gas and power utility, alleging failure to pay nearly $100 million for natural gas delivered during a February winter storm.
The lawsuit is the latest to emerge from a severe cold snap that drove prices and demand for natural gas and electricity to hundreds of times their pre-storm levels. Houston gas prices hit $400 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) from about $4.50/mmBtu a week earlier. Those bills pushed at least three electricity providers to declare bankruptcy.
Enterprise is suing CPS Energy, a long-time customer, over payment disputes for sales during the freeze. The suit, filed in a state court in Harris County, Texas, claims CPS owes $99.7 million for gas after paying $36.5 million towards the month’s fuel bill.
“CPS Energy is now engaging in a coordinated plan to avoid paying its bills,” the lawsuit claimed, adding the utility has offered $38.83/mmBtu for the gas. The lawsuit does not say what price per unit of gas Enterprise sought.
CPS Energy CEO Paula Gold-Williams said Enterprise had engaged in “egregious price gouging” and that the lawsuit came after it had tried to negotiate the dispute.
“CPS Energy is committed to protecting its customers from unconscionable prices charged by certain natural gas suppliers,” Gold-Williams said.
A spokesman for Enterprise declined to comment, saying it would let the lawsuit speak for itself.
CPS Energy, the municipal utility owned by the city of San Antonio, Texas, previously sued grid operator Electric Reliability Council of Texas seeking to block it from issuing a default for unpaid power charges.
Enterprise next month is expected to report first-quarter earnings that analysts say will benefit from the sharp rise in gas prices during the storm. Rival Kinder Morgan Inc. last week reported a roughly $1 billion boost to earnings from selling high-priced natural gas to utilities.
Enterprise could post an around $475 million profit from the storm in its coming report, analysts from consultancy East Daley Capital said in a note last week.
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