Atmos Energy 2003 Annual Report Download - page 12

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Innovation has been at the heart of Atmos Energy from the start. As a small regional gas utility, our company’s leaders
knew they must innovate to survive and prosper. So early on, Atmos Energy sought new markets for natural gas,
new ways to help customers use gas and new assets, such as storage fields, to lower customers’ costs. The company grew
by adding operations outside its traditional market. And the new employees who joined our system were encouraged
to share their knowledge in what today has become a system of management by councils, which set our common
operating practices. The combination of knowledge and new ideas sets Atmos Energy apart—as the company that works.
Rob Mosher, Sales
Representative, standing
where 25 feet of yearly
snow won’t, in Steamboat
Springs, Colorado.
When natural gas
producers are
busy pumping gas
out of the ground
and selling it for
less, we buy it
and pump it back
into underground
storage. Why?
Storing gas in the
summer that our
customers can buy
later in the winter
helps keep our
customers’ bills low.
Management by councils
made up of staff who
lead and perform the
work helps us adopt
common practices that
maximize effectiveness
and efficiency.
smart people
doing
smart things
Never underestimate the
power of an idea. Even an
innovation that seems odd in
the beginning can make our
customers and us look smart
in the end. Some of our best
ideas help customers use gas
in new ways or help us deliver
gas at lower prices. Who’d
have thought that melting snow
in ski country would be a
good idea? But it is.
Immediate, silent and
environmentally friendly
snow removal, thanks
to thousands of feet of
tubing pulsing with
water heated by natural
gas, means snow won’t
stick where people walk
and drive. And that’s
how we work for you.
We develop distributed
generation electric plants
so that businesses
and municipalities can
generate electricity
at a savings.