Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt may expand his investigation into significant increases in natural gas prices due to extreme cold early this year.
Schmidt is now seeking proposals to retain a law firm with expertise in natural gas matters to help look into possible civil lawsuits to enforce the state’s anti-profiteering laws. Schmidt opened an investigation shortly after the bitter cold of mid-February ended, looking for evidence unprecedented price hikes violated state law.
This is separate from an investigation conducted by the Kansas Corporation Commission. Earlier this month, the KCC denied two motions filed by the Natural Gas Transportation Customer Coalition to release information about the price spike, saying it lacked jurisdiction to subpoena records from S&P Global Platts Gas Daily about its daily price index — noting an open investigation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — or from Kansas Gas Service to make supplier invoices public because all parties involved have full access and opening them to the public wouldn’t help the investigation process.
Bids for Schmidt’s RFP are open until Oct. 28.
