The Texas Railroad Commission wants to replace every natural gas pipeline in the state—IF it’s made of steel.
The Dallas Morning News has an exclusive story reporting Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams will be proposing today that ATMOS and other utilities switch from steel to plastic for their underground gas pipelines.
The report says up to a million lines could be affected at a cost of more than $500 million dollars……a cost that may have to be borne by natural gas customers.
Williams says the problem is that the old steel service lines can shift and corrode.    Creating a rule to require the change could take several months and replacing the steel lines with plastic could take 10 years to complete.  
Williams tells the Morning News it would be the largest replacement program the Railroad Commission has ever done.