KANSAS (KSNT) – A spokesperson from Symmetry energy is responding to KSNT’s report about negotiations to lower the gas bills of local school districts after extreme temperatures caused sky-high bills in February.

The Manhattan-Ogden school district, along with the 177 other schools in the pool, get their gas from Symmetry Energy Solutions, based in Texas. They decided at their board meeting Wednesday night to join KJUMP, or the Kansas Joint Utilities Management, Natural Gas Consortium.

According to the district, their gas bill jumped 475% from January to February. And it has major financial implications as the bill of $123,363 accounts for 91.5% of their total energy budget for the entire year, $140,000.

“While we generally do not comment on pending litigation, we believe this lawsuit is without merit and will vigorously defend Symmetry against these allegations, together with other natural gas marketers, Symmetry has an important role in the distribution of natural gas to end-user customers. Throughout the well-documented, volatile, and supply-constrained period that resulted from Winter Storm Uri, which severely disrupted electricity and natural gas markets in large parts of the country for a sustained period, Symmetry worked to secure replacement gas to meet the ongoing needs of our customers in real-time.”

Symmetry spokesperson