AOG Curtails Commercial and Industrial Customers Due to Gas Shortages Due to Polar Vortex

Asks Customers to Turn Down Thermostats Before Bed and Limit Gas Usage in the Morning

2/16/2021

FORT SMITH, AR – Due to natural gas supply constraints driven by an unprecedented weather event throughout the Midwest, Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corporation (AOG) is curtailing industrial and commercial customers, except for those that provide human needs, like hospitals and assisted living facilities.

The company is also urging customers to turn their thermostats down before bed tonight and limit their gas usage between 5am and 9am tomorrow morning.

“We are experiencing an unprecedented weather event that is imapacting gas supplies throughout the Midwest,” said Fred Kirkwood, Chief Customer Officer of AOG. “Our team has been working around the clock to preserve gas access for our customers. Unfortunately, we’ve been notified that our gas supply is being reduced due to circumstances beyond our control. In order to do everything possible to preserve gas access to our most critical customers including homes, hospitals, churches, and other human needs organizations, industrial customers must reduce their gas load to zero and we are urging residential customers to lower their thermostats before bed tonight and limit their gas usage tomorrow morning during peak demand hours of 5am and 9am.”

AOG has shut down their CNG stations in the Fort Smith area. The company is asking all of its customers to conserve their energy usage over the next few days.

Tips for conserving energy usage include:

  • Keep your thermostat a few degrees lower than normal, as long as there are no health risks. Avoid turning your thermostat up too high, too fast.
  • Reduce your thermostat to 60 degrees overnight and when you are away from home for more than a few hours.
  • Turn down your water heater to 120 degrees.
  • Clear space around your registers so warm air can flow freely. Close dampers on unused fireplaces and keep garage doors closed to prevent warm air from escaping. Insulate around window and doors to prevent air leaks and keep warm air inside.
  • Soak up the sun by opening curtains on your south-facing windows during the day and let the sunlight heat your home. Then, close them at night to reduce the incoming cold from any drafty windows.

In addition to reduced energy usage, here are tips to stay safe at home:

Never use an oven or a gas stovetop to heat your home. Protect natural gas meters. Natural gas meters are weather-proof; however, to ensure that the meter keeps working smoothly, remove snow and ice from natural gas meters with a broom or brush. Never kick or chip snow and ice away with a hard object. Minimize the risk of frozen pipes. In the event you lose heat or power, leave faucets running at a trickle, leave cabinet doors open, and close all doors and windows to keep heat inside.