XML 26 R11.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.8.0.1
Nature of Business
12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2017
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Nature of Business
Nature of Business
Atmos Energy Corporation (“Atmos Energy” or the “Company”) and our subsidiaries are engaged in the regulated natural gas distribution and pipeline and storage businesses. Through our distribution business, we deliver natural gas through sales and transportation arrangements to over three million residential, commercial, public-authority and industrial customers through our six regulated distribution divisions in the service areas described below:
Division
  
Service Area
Atmos Energy Colorado-Kansas Division
  
Colorado, Kansas
Atmos Energy Kentucky/Mid-States Division
  
Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia(1)
Atmos Energy Louisiana Division
  
Louisiana
Atmos Energy Mid-Tex Division
  
Texas, including the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area
Atmos Energy Mississippi Division
  
Mississippi
Atmos Energy West Texas Division
  
West Texas

 
(1)
Denotes location where we have more limited service areas.
In addition, we transport natural gas for others through our distribution system. Our distribution business is subject to federal and state regulation and/or regulation by local authorities in each of the states in which our distribution divisions operate. Our corporate headquarters and shared-services function are located in Dallas, Texas, and our customer support centers are located in Amarillo and Waco, Texas.
Our pipeline and storage business, which is also subject to federal and state regulation, consists of the operations of our Atmos Pipeline–Texas (APT) Division and our Louisiana natural gas transmission business. The APT division transports natural gas to our Mid-Tex Division, transports natural gas for third parties and manages five underground storage reservoirs in Texas. We also provide ancillary services customary to the pipeline industry including parking arrangements, lending and sales of inventory on hand. Our natural gas transmission operations in Louisiana are comprised of a proprietary 21-mile pipeline located in New Orleans, Louisiana that is primarily used to aggregate gas supply for our distribution division in Louisiana under a long-term contract and on a more limited basis, to third parties.
On October 29, 2016, we entered into a Membership Interest Purchase Agreement (the Agreement) with CenterPoint Energy Services, Inc., a subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (CES) to sell all of the equity interests of AEM. The transaction closed on January 3, 2017, with an effective date of January 1, 2017. AEM’s historical financial results are reflected in the Company’s consolidated financial statements as discontinued operations, which required retrospective application to financial information for all periods presented. Please refer to Note 15 for further information. Our discontinued natural gas marketing segment was primarily engaged in an unregulated natural gas marketing business, conducted by Atmos Energy Marketing (AEM). The natural gas marketing business operated primarily in the Midwest and Southeast and was based in Houston, Texas. This business provided natural gas management and transportation services to municipalities, regulated distribution companies, including certain divisions of Atmos Energy, and third parties.