Brenham, TX

On April 4, 2022, the City of Brenham filed a formal complaint against Oasis Pipeline, L.P. at the Railroad Commission of Texas.  In the complaint, Brenham asks the Railroad Commission to set the proper just and reasonable rate for transportation of natural gas by Oasis to the Brenham municipally-owned gas distribution system.  Oasis, a subsidiary of Energy Transfer LP, one of the largest pipelines in Texas, is a gas utility regulated by the Commission.

In its complaint, Brenham states that on November 1, 2021, Oasis had “dramatically” increased the rate for transportation of gas to Brenham by hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.  Brenham asserts that Oasis did this without following the required steps under the Texas Utilities Code and that the rate increase was “patently unreasonable.”  Brenham also notes that Oasis is the only gas transporter to Brenham and that it had “no effective choice” but to sign the contract “in order to avoid a disruption in gas deliveries as winter arrived.”   

Brenham Mayor Milton Tate observed that Oasis had presented the contract basically on a take-it-or-leave-it basis.  He commented that “While we had no choice but to seek the assistance of the Railroad Commission, we are hopeful that in light of the complaint Oasis will sit down with us and agree to a reasonable rate.” 

 The complaint may be downloaded here.

Under the Texas Utilities Code, the Railroad Commission is charged with ensuring that gas utility rates such as the Oasis transportation rate to Brenham are just and reasonable.