Atmos Energy 2009 Annual Report Download - page 16

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14 | ATMOS ENERGY 2009 SUMMARY ANNUAL REPORT
Manufacturing operations that
require reliable energy and high heat
rely on natural gas. Nearly 3,000
plants and factories, such as this large
glass manufacturing works, benefit
from the clean, efficient and direct
energy that Atmos Energy delivers.
With more people practicing energy conservation, does that lessen your
bottom line?
Best: That’s a very important point. Atmos Energy makes absolutely no money
on the natural gas we buy for our utility customers. Our cost for natural gas
is passed on to our customers without any markup. There’s not one penny
added to anyone’s bill. Our customers pay us to bring the gas into the city and
into their homes. Their natural gas bills cover our costs of making sure the
city pipelines are in good shape and that natural gas is delivered in a safe and reliable manner. Because we
buy gas at the lowest possible costs in the summer and store it for winter use, we effectively smooth out the
bills our customers receive, so that their heating costs are much more predictable and stable. It’s a little bit
ironic that, even though we’re the largest all-natural-gas distributor in the United States, we’re really not a
“gas” company at all. We’re a service company.