Gas Utility FAQs

Contact the Railroad Commission of Texas’ Gas Services department at gutax@rrc.texas.gov or 512-463-7027 and provide the specific name of the entity.

The definition of a gas utility is outlined in Sections 101.003(7) and 121.001 of the Texas Utilities Code.

In order to determine if an entity is a gas utility, the Railroad Commission of Texas (Commission) refers initially to the T-4 Permit to Operate a Pipeline in Texas. During the T-4 Permit application process the Commission’s Gas Services Audit Section is part of a three-group review team (Permitting, Mapping and Gas Services) that reviews applications for completeness and rule compliance. When a T-4 Permit is issued it will distinguish that pipeline’s status as Private or Gas Utility.

Texas Utilities Code §121.004 and §121.005 provide certain exemptions to gas utility status focusing on activities taking place in or within the vicinity of the field or field where the gas is produced. In accordance with these statutes, the Commission’s Gas Services department has a certificate that a qualifying operator can file with the Commission to affirm those conditions are being met.

16 Texas Administrative Code §7.301(c) defines a "gas-gathering utility" as a gas utility which employs a pipeline or pipelines and ancillary facilities thereto in the first taking or the first retaining of possession of gas produced by others. Which extends from any point where such gas is produced, purchased, or received to the trunk line or main line of transportation where such gas is sold or delivered, without regard to the size, the length, or the amount of such gas carried through such pipeline or pipelines to the trunk line or main line of transportation. Thus, having as its primary function the collecting or collecting and processing of gas produced by others as a preliminary incident to the transportation after it has been severed from the earth by production.