RRC Holiday Office Closure

The Railroad Commission of Texas will be closed Wednesday, November 27 and remain closed on Thursday, November 28 and Friday, November 29 in observance of the Thanksgiving Holiday. The agency will reopen for regular business at 8 a.m. on Monday, December 2.

Critical Infrastructure

Regulating the weatherization of natural gas facilities.

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Critical Infrastructure ANNOUNCEMENTS

Introducing the RRC Mapping Automation Portal


October 25, 2024

The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) will be launching the RRC Mapping Automation Portal (RRC MAP) later this year. This new portal allows oil and gas and pipeline operators to identify and confirm facilities that are a part of the natural gas supply chain for power generation in Texas. The portal will help the RRC maintain the most up-to-date critical infrastructure information during a weather emergency.

RRC MAP is an information gathering portal that links facilities in the natural gas supply chain from upstream production and disposal to the end point – power plants. Data collected via the system is shared with the Texas Public Utilities Commission to be added to the Texas Electricity Supply Chain Map.

Free, in-person and online training sessions will be held to inform and train operators on actions needed to prepare for the application release and provide instructions on how to identify and confirm facilities using the application. Topics to be covered include:

  • RRC Access Management Process (RAMP) access, and filing agent set up,
  • Responding to email and certified letter notifications from the RRC,
  • Confirming and identifying facilities, and
  • What happens when an operator fails to respond to notifications.

The online and in-person training sessions are scheduled for these days:

  • November 7, 2024 – Webinar
  • November 20, 2024 – Midland
  • November 21, 2024 – Midland
  • December 12, 2024 ­– Houston

Registration is required to attend the training sessions. For more information and to register, visit the RRC website at https://www.rrc.texas.gov/critical-infrastructure/ci-training/mapping-automation-portal-trainings/.

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Critical Designation of Natural Gas Infrastructure

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Weatherization

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What we do

RRC’s Critical Infrastructure Division (CID) is committed to serving the people of Texas by ensuring the natural gas industry consistently incorporates weatherization and reliability standards and practices to achieve uninterruptible natural gas production throughout the calendar year including periods of severe weather.

The CID will vigilantly oversee and manage adherence to weatherization rules, adopted by the RRC, including ensuring companies within the natural gas supply chain register their assets as Critical Infrastructure.

On November 30, 2021 The Railroad Commission of Texas commissioners adopted rules for critical designation of natural gas infrastructure to help protect Texans in energy emergencies. The new rules implement provisions in House Bill 3648 and Senate Bill 3 and define natural gas facilities that would be designated as critical gas suppliers and critical customers.

Critical gas suppliers include, but are not limited to, gas wells, oil leases that produce gas, natural gas pipeline facilities, underground natural gas storage facilities and saltwater disposal facilities.

Critical customers, which are a subset of critical gas suppliers, are facilities that require electricity to operate. These operators will submit a critical customer information to their electric utilities so that their electric utilities have the correct information for purposes of supplying power to the facilities.

Senate Bill 3 includes language to allow for certain facilities to apply for an exception to critical designation. However, the newly adopted rules exclude certain types of highly critical facilities from being able to apply for an exception. Examples include any facility that will be on the state’s electricity supply chain map, which is due to be published next year, underground gas storage facilities, pipelines that directly serve a power generation plant or local gas distribution companies, gas wells and oil leases that produce a large amount of gas per day, and gas processing plants. Applications for exception require objective evidence proving reasonable cause and justification, which will be reviewed, and RRC staff can deny an application.


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