Comprehensive Guide to Natural Gas Transportation Services and Operations
Structural Overview and Organizational Architecture
The natural gas utility operating model distinguishes between standard commercial sales accounts (historically managed as Banner sales accounts), residential accounts, and transportation accounts. In standard sales arrangements, the utility procures the gas commodity directly and sells it to the end consumer. Under the transportation service model, qualifying commercial and industrial consumers procure their natural gas supply from third-party entities known as shippers or suppliers. Because these third-party shippers operate without public utility commission rate regulations, they can procure and sell gas at market-driven costs that are generally lower than the regulated utility cost of gas. The utility maintains physical ownership and operational responsibility for the gas distribution infrastructure, including pipelines, meter sets, and associated physical monitoring equipment, while the physical commodity transported through the pipe is delivered and owned by the third-party shipper. The utility bill issued to a transportation customer reflects distribution, delivery, and service charges, while the natural gas commodity charge is billed separately by the shipper.
The enterprise color-codes customer classifications across operational systems: transportation accounts are designated in green, standard sales accounts in orange, and residential accounts in blue. The internal departmental structure overseeing transportation accounts is divided into two primary disciplines: volume management and billing administration. The departmental hierarchy is led by Lindsay, the Director, followed by Vicki Turles as Manager. The Volume Group reports directly to Vicki Turles and includes Volume Analysts Andrea and Candy Collins. The Billing Group is supervised by Suzanne and comprises four billing analysts: Tanasha, Autumn, Cedric, and Daniel, who transitioned to transportation billing following initial operational experience handling residential and commercial accounts in the customer Information Center.
Customer Scale and Regional Volume Impact
Although transportation accounts constitute a numerically small percentage of the total active meters across utility territories, their collective consumption accounts for a massive portion of the utility distribution system throughput. As of the close of 2024, across a full 12-month operating window, Oklahoma Natural Gas (ONG) served approximately transportation customers out of a total base approaching accounts statewide. Despite representing less than one percent of active meters, these transportation customers consumed of the total physical natural gas volume delivered across the entire Oklahoma Natural Gas system for the year.
A comparable dynamic exists across adjacent operating jurisdictions. In Kansas, the transportation group manages approximately commercial and industrial accounts, which represent of the total delivered natural gas volume. In Texas Gas Service (TGS), the transportation segment is smaller in account volume, serving just under customers; however, this cohort commands of the entire annual throughput volume of the utility. Because transportation customers handle millions of units of gas, their operational load demands dedicated administrative, analytical, and measurement support.
Software Applications and Systems Infrastructure
Standard residential and commercial Banner sales accounts operate inside a centralized, streamlined software ecosystem. A customer contacting the utility to establish service can establish an account profile, undergo automated deposit calculation, assign tariff and rate codes, configure meter data, and schedule a field technician for physical meter activation within a single five-minute phone transaction managed entirely within Banner. Transportation accounts, by contrast, require a complex ecosystem of specialized applications running in parallel to handle account administration, nominations, physical telemetry, and customer billing.
The technology architecture for transportation services relies on three core applications, supplemented by specialized operational systems:
Banner serves as the ultimate repository for final billing issuance, accounts receivable, premise records, and general customer account management.
Quick Pipeline Transportation Management (QPTM) functions as the Electronic Bulletin Board (EBB). It manages gas nominations, shipper pool assignments, consumer brief records (containing base usage, tax exemption documentation, assigned rate schedules, and Key Account representative assignments), pipeline capacity tracking, and upstream-to-downstream physical reconciliation.
BillGen operates as the intermediate calculation engine where billing rates, nominated volumes, actual metered consumption, and shipper allocation details are aggregated and calculated prior to interfacing into Banner for bill generation.
FlowCal is the primary telemetry and measurement repository, maintained by the Measurement Department, capturing raw hourly and daily usage data transmitted from field meter telemetry.
Perceptive serves as the enterprise document management vault, storing legal and tax documentation, including Form W-9s, sales tax exemption certificates, and executed agency letters.
Microsoft Dynamics manages customer relationship workflows, scheduling, account status modifications, onboarding, offboarding, service terminations, and coordination between the Business Development and Key Accounts departments.
Cognos and CAP execute reporting, regression tracking, data integrity audits, and monthly discrepancy reconciliations across all transportation systems.
Customer Qualification Thresholds and Transportation Tariff Tiers
A commercial customer qualifies for transportation service by meeting an annual consumption baseline of units (dekatherms) over a consecutive 12-month period. At this threshold, rate modeling indicates that procuring natural gas through an independent shipper yields meaningful cost advantages relative to regulated utility sales rates. Customers can consult published natural gas rates and historical cost-of-gas tariff filings on the utility website under Business Services to evaluate comparative commodity pricing.
Specific transportation rates correspond to verified consumption bands and service conditions:
Rate 2.55T applies to consumption from up to dekatherms over a 12-month period.
Rate 2.91T governs accounts consuming from up to dekatherms.
Rate 3.91T covers high-volume customers consuming between and dekatherms.
Rate 9.01T applies to large-scale industrial consumers using dekatherms or greater.
Specialized wholesale tariffs exist for niche accounts, cataloged under Rate 6.55T and Rate 6.91T.
Tariff 2000 defines the General Terms and Conditions governing all transportation services, including imbalance tolerances, cash-out operational mechanics, and contractual compliance.
Electronic Flow Measurement and Field Infrastructure
Once an account achieves annual consumption of units, Rate 3.91T dictates mandatory assignment to transportation service, requiring the customer to purchase natural gas through a third-party supplier. This mandatory threshold ensures the physical justification and operational necessity of installing Electronic Flow Measurement (EFM) field equipment at the meter set. With minimal exceptions, all transportation accounts are equipped with dedicated EFM hardware monitored daily or hourly.
Physical field telemetry configurations utilize two primary operational tiers:
Bullhorn wireless telemetry modules consist of field-mounted transponders dedicated to logging and transmitting automated daily meter consumption data.
Full communication installations consist of advanced telemetry enclosures supporting continuous real-time data acquisition and transmitting automated hourly usage readings directly to FlowCal.
Granular monitoring is essential for public safety and grid reliability. Industrial transportation customers—such as manufacturing facilities in Ardmore, large processing complexes, or computing server farms—are frequently situated in rural, sparsely populated jurisdictions adjacent to small municipalities. A single high-volume industrial consumer can consume a volume of natural gas equal to or exceeding the total baseline consumption of an entire municipal township. If an unmonitored operational disruption or sudden surge occurs at an industrial plant, the pressure draw could compromise the integrity of the surrounding distribution grid, potentially depriving an entire township, including schools and regional healthcare facilities, of heating fuel. Immediate telemetry alerts within the hour or day protect continuous service across the surrounding infrastructure.
Volume Operations, Confirmation Cycles, and Pipeline Balancing
The volume analyst team acts as the operational interface for third-party shippers and end-use consumers. Shippers organize their customer portfolios into functional groupings known as pools. To deliver gas, shippers submit nominations on the Oklahoma Natural Gas distribution system indicating their scheduled physical commodity deliveries.
The volume analysts perform a formal confirmation process by comparing nomination schedules submitted on the local pipeline against nominations entered on connecting upstream interstate and intrastate pipeline networks. Pipeline flow follows a standard gas day, running from 9:00 AM to 8:59 AM, structured around five distinct nomination confirmation cycles across the 24-hour cycle. Volume analysts actively audit nominations and reconcile physical volume discrepancies during these cycles. Following nomination reconciliation, the volume team compiles and submits a daily flow order to Gas Supply and Gas Control, confirming system capacity allocations to accommodate scheduled consumer burns.
At month-end close, the volume group generates and distributes a Shipper Allocation Report (SAR) to every active shipper. The SAR reconciles total monthly scheduled nominations against actual aggregate metered consumer consumption across the shipper's customer pool. Because operational precision requires scheduled deliveries to match physical burn as closely as possible, discrepancies are resolved through a contractual cash-out mechanism detailed under Tariff 2000. All standard transportation tariffs mandate an imbalance tolerance band of . Monthly discrepancies exceeding the window are financially liquidated via the cash-out process.
Billing Administration, Account Lifecycle, and Special Sales Accounts
The transportation billing analyst group oversees account management, lifecycle maintenance, and revenue administration. Daily responsibilities span customer communications via a dedicated telephone line, monitoring a shared group inbox, scheduling service orders, coordinating online account access, processing rate adjustments received from Key Accounts, verifying sales tax exemption certificates, and executing regression test scripts to maintain system functionality. Analysts manage billing collection workflows, including running aging reports, making outbound contact to delinquent accounts, issuing field disconnect notices, and managing customer bankruptcy filings internally.
Billing analysts also govern account conversions, managing the technical migration of customers from Banner sales accounts into transportation status, returning non-compliant transportation accounts back to Banner sales, and processing changes when a customer switches suppliers. In supplier transition scenarios, billing analysts update administrative customer records and notify volume analysts to adjust pool assignments.
Special Sales Accounts represent a distinct classification within the operational landscape. These customers possess physical loads requiring advanced EFM telemetry hardware (matching transportation setups) but purchase their natural gas commodity directly from the utility rather than a third party. Within the Banner application, these accounts are flagged with a prominent "Special Sales" alert banner. Their utility billing statements explicitly calculate utility-supplied cost-of-gas charges rather than separating commodity from transport.
Negotiated Contract accounts operate under custom, non-standard contractual terms, governed by individual agreements rather than published tariff rate sheets.
Interdepartmental Collaboration and Systems Integration Workflows
Transportation administration relies on structured cross-functional coordination with multiple internal business groups:
Information Technology and Support coordinates system performance and ongoing enhancements related to the GT systems integration project.
Rates and Legal interprets tariff language and structures negotiated customer contracts.
Builder Services coordinates service line activations, line extensions, and infrastructure retirements for expanding or decommissioning industrial sites.
Measurement Department dispatches large-volume meter technicians and manages physical telemetry and field hardware calibration.
Key Accounts functions as the direct field liaison and primary relationship manager for commercial and industrial transportation consumers.
Gas Supply and Gas Control collaborates continuously with the volume team to regulate system pressure and manage daily line capacity.
Interstate transportation peers provide operational support and cross-jurisdictional best practices, including coordination with transportation analysts in Kansas.
System data flow contains both automated interfaces and manual administrative interventions. Telemetry readings from EFM meters flow automatically on a daily schedule into FlowCal, which interfaces metered volumes directly into BillGen and updates daily flow records inside Banner without manual analyst intervention. Simultaneously, nominations reconciled within QPTM interface automatically into BillGen each day. Establishing new customer enrollments, executing supplier transitions, mapping contract premises, and maintaining Business Associate numbers require significant manual data entry across Banner, QPTM, BillGen, and Dynamics, requiring ongoing manual data duplication by billing and volume analysts.
Third-Party Portal Resources, Agency Letters, and Shipper Onboarding
The public website serves as the primary external resource portal for consumers and shippers, accessed by navigating to globalnaturalgas.com, selecting "Choose Gas," accessing "Business Services," and entering the "Transportation Services" section. The public portal provides access to published tariff schedules, historical cost-of-gas comparative indices, and a comprehensive directory of approved third-party suppliers.
The onboarding and operational workflow relies on key legal instruments and toolkits:
The Agency Letter is a legally binding authorization executed between an end-use customer and an authorized third-party shipper. This document formally grants the shipper legal authority to nominate gas supply and manage fuel procurement on the customer's behalf. Executed Agency Letters are uploaded and archived in Perceptive for audit compliance.
The Third-Party Shipper Toolkit provides external registration capabilities for prospective natural gas marketers and suppliers.
The Electronic Bulletin Board Access Agreement grants authorized suppliers credentialed access to QPTM, enabling direct visibility into pipeline nomination windows, pool performance, and scheduled volumes.
Operational deadline schedules establish strict daily cut-off times for nomination submissions and pool modifications to prevent distribution grid imbalance and operational bottlenecks.
Questions & Discussion
Prompt: An attendee opened the floor to questions from the group and expressed appreciation for the presentation and the permission granted to record the training session for broader organizational reference.
Response: The session concluded as attendees acknowledged the value of the comprehensive walkthrough and confirmed the availability of recorded materials for staff reference.