A Houston company sued by Attorney General Gentner Drummond and accused of fraud over historic high natural gas prices during Winter Storm Yuri in 2021 is asking an Osage County Judge to transfer the case to Texas.
Symmetry Energy Solutions, LLC maintains the lawsuit filed in April on behalf of the Grand River Dam Authority should not be heard in Osage County.
“Symmetry files this Reply to demonstrate why venue is improper in Osage County and why this Court must dismiss all causes of acton except breach of contract,” wrote attorneys for the Texas natural gas firm.
In a filing last week in Osage County District Court and with Judge Stuart Tate, the Houston company argued that the Oklahoma Supreme Court is clear, “The venue of actions against foreign corporations…is confined to those counties where either the plaintiff resides, the cause of action arose, the corporation has its principal place of business or has property or where the corporation has an agent upon whom service of summons or other process may be had.”
Symmetry attorneys charge Osage County is none of them and accused the Attorney General of “noncompliance with this law.”
“Osage County has no connectionto this dispute—none. And the Attorney General has certainly not established why the citizens of Osage County should foot the bill for a lawsuit between residents of Mayes and Tulsa Counties, or why witnesses in those counties should have to travel to Osage County,” continued the attorneys.
They also maintain the Attorney General’s lawsuit failed to meet the statute of limitations, even though he argues otherwise.
“The state is not exempt from the statute of limitations—,” declared the attorneys in their filing, adding, “—the Attorney General must play by the rules.”
Symmetry denies it took actions during the storm to decrease public supply by storing gas instead of selling it and raising the price of gas to the GRDA.
Two suits were filed by Drummond and accused Enable subsidiaries and Symmetry Energy Solutions of manipulating their natural gas supplies to boost prices before and during the storm that gripped the state.
Drummond’s lawsuits charged both companies raked in billions of dollars in profit from their “wrongful conduct”. Symmetry supplied natural gas to GRDA, a public power utility that serves customers in 24 counties.
“I believe the level of fraud perpetrated on Oklahomans during Winter Storm Uri is both staggering and unconscionable,” Drummond stated in a press release. “While many companies conducted themselves above board during that trying time, our analysis indicates that some bad actors reaped billions of dollars in ill-gotten gains. It is important that we do everything in our power to hold bad actors accountable for their actions.”
During the storm, natural gas prices in Oklahoma soared to historic levels never seen before across the nation—$1,200 per thousand cubic feet. Before the storm, prices were in the $2 to $3 range.
