Atmos Energy (ATO) Risk Analysis

We are subject to safety and financial regulatory oversight from various federal, state, and local regulatory authorities in the eight states that we serve. Therefore, our returns are continuously monitored and are subject to challenge for their reasonableness by the appropriate regulatory authorities or other third-party intervenors. In the normal course of business, as a regulated entity, we often need to place assets in service and establish historical test periods before rate cases that seek to adjust our allowed returns to recover that investment can be filed. Further, the regulatory review process can be lengthy in the context of traditional ratemaking. Because of this process, we could suffer the negative financial effects of having placed assets in service without the benefit of rate relief, which is commonly referred to as "regulatory lag." Regulatory authorities in the states we serve have approved various infrastructure and annual rate adjustment mechanisms to effectively reduce the regulatory lag inherent in the ratemaking process. Regulatory lag could significantly increase if the regulatory authorities modify or terminate these rate mechanisms. The regulatory process also involves the risk that regulatory authorities may (i) review our purchases of natural gas and adjust the amount of our gas costs that we pass through to our customers or (ii) limit or disallow the costs we may have incurred from our cost of service that can be recovered from customers. We are also subject to laws, regulations, and other legal requirements enacted or adopted by federal, state, and local governmental authorities relating to protection of the environment and health and safety matters, including those that govern discharges of substances into the air and water, the management and disposal of hazardous substances and waste, the clean-up of contaminated sites, groundwater quality and availability, plant and wildlife protection, as well as work practices related to employee health and safety. Environmental legislation also requires that our facilities, sites, and other properties associated with our operations be operated, maintained, abandoned, and reclaimed to the satisfaction of applicable regulatory authorities. Failure to comply with these laws, regulations, permits, and licenses may expose us to fines, penalties, or interruptions in our operations that could be significant to our financial results. In addition, existing environmental regulations may be revised or our operations may become subject to new regulations.

As cyber-attacks are becoming more sophisticated, U.S. government warnings have indicated that critical infrastructure assets, including pipeline infrastructure, may be specifically targeted by certain groups. In recent years, the U.S. government has issued directives that require critical pipeline owners to comply with mandatory reporting measures, designate a cybersecurity coordinator, provide vulnerability assessments, and ensure compliance with certain cybersecurity requirements. Such directives or other requirements may require expenditure of significant additional resources to respond to cyber-attacks, to continue to modify or enhance protective measures, or to assess, investigate, and remediate any critical infrastructure security vulnerabilities. Any failure to comply with such government regulations or failure in our cybersecurity protective measures may result in enforcement actions that may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition. In addition, there is no certainty that costs incurred related to securing against threats will be recovered through rates.

PHMSA requires pipeline operators to develop integrity management programs to comprehensively evaluate certain areas along their pipelines and to take additional measures to protect pipeline segments located in "high consequence areas" where a leak or rupture could potentially do the most harm. As a pipeline operator, the Company is required to: - perform ongoing assessments of pipeline integrity;- identify and characterize applicable threats to pipeline segments that could impact a "high consequence area";- improve data collection, integration, and analysis;- repair and remediate the pipeline as necessary; and - implement preventative and mitigating actions. The Company incurs significant costs to comply with existing PHMSA and comparable state regulations. Although we believe these costs are ultimately recoverable through our rates, the costs of complying with new laws and regulations may have at least a short-term adverse impact on our operating costs and financial results. For example, the adoption of new regulations requiring more comprehensive or stringent safety standards could require installation of new or modified safety controls, new capital projects, or accelerated maintenance programs, all of which could require a potentially significant increase in operating costs.

The competition for talent has become increasingly intense. If we are unable to recruit and retain an appropriately qualified workforce, the Company could encounter operating challenges primarily due to a loss of institutional knowledge and expertise, errors due to inexperience, or the lengthy time period typically required to adequately train replacement personnel. In addition, higher costs could result from loss of productivity, increased safety compliance issues, or cost of contract labor. Additionally, our ability to operate is contingent on maintaining a healthy workforce and a safe working environment. As a provider of essential services, we have an obligation to provide natural gas services to customers. Incidents that impact the health and availability of our workforce could threaten the continuity of our business operations.