UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form 10-K
     
(Mark One)    
þ
  ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
 
    For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2005
 
OR
 
o
  TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
 
    For the transition period from           to
Commission file number 1-10042
Atmos Energy Corporation
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
     
Texas and Virginia   75-1743247
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
  (IRS employer
identification no.)
 
Three Lincoln Centre, Suite 1800
5430 LBJ Freeway, Dallas, Texas
(Address of principal executive offices)
  75240
(Zip code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:
(972) 934-9227
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
     
Title of Each Class   Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered
     
Common stock, No Par Value
  New York Stock Exchange
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
      Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.     Yes  þ           No  o
      Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.      o
      Indicate by check whether the recipient is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2).     Yes  þ           No  o
      Indicate by check whether the recipient is a shell company (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2).     Yes  o           No  þ
      The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, March 31, 2005, was $2,085,825,303.
      As of November 11, 2005, the registrant had 80,613,517 shares of common stock outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
      Portions of the registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement to be filed for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders on February 8, 2006 are incorporated by reference into Part III of this report.
 
 


TABLE OF CONTENTS
                 
        Page
         
  Glossary of Key Terms     3  
  PART I
  Item 1.     Business     4  
  Item 2.     Properties     22  
  Item 3.     Legal Proceedings     25  
  Item 4.     Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders     25  
  PART II
  Item 5.     Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholders Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities     27  
  Item 6.     Selected Financial Data     28  
  Item 7.     Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations     30  
  Item 7A.     Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk     59  
  Item 8.     Financial Statements and Supplementary Data     61  
  Item 9.     Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure     122  
  Item 9A.     Controls and Procedures     122  
  Item 9B.     Other Information     124  
  PART III
  Item 10.     Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant     124  
  Item 11.     Executive Compensation     124  
  Item 12.     Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters     124  
  Item 13.     Certain Relationships and Related Transactions     124  
  Item 14.     Principal Accountant Fees and Services     125  
  PART IV
  Item 15.     Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules     125  
  Form of Non-Qualified Stock Option Agreement
 5 Form of Award Agreement
  Form of Award Agreement
  Statement of Computation of Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges
  Subsidiaries of the Registrant
  Consent of Ernst & Young LLP
  Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certifications
  Section 1350 Certifications

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GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS
     
AEC
  Atmos Energy Corporation
AEH
  Atmos Energy Holdings, Inc.
AEM
  Atmos Energy Marketing, LLC
AES
  Atmos Energy Services, LLC
APB
  Accounting Principles Board
APS
  Atmos Pipeline and Storage, LLC
ATO
  Trading symbol for Atmos Energy Corporation
  common stock on the New York Stock Exchange
Bcf
  Billion cubic feet
COSO
  Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
  Commission
EITF
  Emerging Issues Task Force
FASB
  Financial Accounting Standards Board
FERC
  Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
FIN
  FASB Interpretation
Fitch
  Fitch Ratings, Ltd.
FSP
  FASB Staff Position
GRIP
  Gas Reliability Infrastructure Program
Heritage
  Heritage Propane Partners, L.P.
iFERC
  Inside FERC
LGS
  Louisiana Gas Service Company and LGS Natural Gas
  Company, which were acquired July 1, 2001
LPSC
  Louisiana Public Service Commission
Mcf
  Thousand cubic feet
MDWQ
  Maximum daily withdrawal quantity
MMcf
  Million cubic feet
Moody’s
  Moody’s Investor Services, Inc.
MPSC
  The Mississippi Public Service Commission
MVG
  Mississippi Valley Gas Company, which was acquired
  December 3, 2002
NYMEX
  New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc.
NYSE
  New York Stock Exchange
RRC
  Railroad Commission of Texas
S&P
  Standard & Poor’s
SEC
  United States Securities and Exchange Commission
SFAS
  Statement of Financial Accounting Standards
TXU Gas
  TXU Gas Company, which was acquired on October 1, 2004
USP
  U.S. Propane, L.P.
VCC
  The Virginia Corporation Commission
WNA
  Weather Normalization Adjustment

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PART I
      The terms “we,” “our,” “us,” “Atmos” and “Atmos Energy” refer to Atmos Energy Corporation and its subsidiaries, unless the context suggests otherwise.
ITEM 1. Business
Overview
      Atmos Energy Corporation, (AEC), headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is engaged primarily in the natural gas utility business as well as other natural gas nonutility businesses. We are one of the country’s largest natural-gas-only distributors based on number of customers and one of the largest intrastate pipeline operators in Texas based upon miles of pipe. As of September 30, 2005 we distributed natural gas through sales and transportation arrangements to approximately 3.2 million residential, commercial, public authority and industrial customers through our seven regulated utility divisions, which covered service areas in 12 states. Our primary service areas are located in Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. We have more limited service areas in Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Virginia. In addition, we transport natural gas for others through our distribution system.
      Through our nonutility businesses, we primarily provide natural gas management and marketing services to municipalities, other local gas distribution companies and industrial customers in 22 states and natural gas transportation and storage services to certain of our utility divisions and to third parties.
Operating Segments
      Our operations are divided into four segments:
  •  the utility segment, which includes our regulated natural gas distribution and related sales operations,
 
  •  the natural gas marketing segment, which includes a variety of nonregulated natural gas management services,
 
  •  the pipeline and storage segment, which includes our regulated and nonregulated natural gas transmission and storage services and
 
  •  the other nonutility segment, which includes all of our other nonregulated nonutility operations.
Strategy
      Our overall strategy is to:
  •  deliver superior shareholder value
 
  •  improve the quality and consistency of earnings growth, while operating our natural gas utility and nonutility businesses exceptionally well and
 
  •  enhance and strengthen a culture built on our core values.
      Over the last five years, we have grown through several acquisitions, including our acquisition in April 2001 of the remaining 55 percent interest in Woodward Marketing, L.L.C. that we did not already own, our acquisition in July 2001 of the assets of Louisiana Gas Service Company, our acquisition in December 2002 of Mississippi Valley Gas Company (MVG) and our acquisition on October 1, 2004 of the natural gas distribution and pipeline operations of TXU Gas Company (TXU Gas).
      The TXU Gas operations we acquired are regulated businesses engaged in the purchase, transmission, distribution and sale of natural gas in the north-central, eastern and western parts of Texas. Through these newly acquired operations, we provide gas distribution services to approximately 1.5 million residential and business customers in Texas, including the Dallas/ Fort Worth metropolitan area. We also now own and operate a system consisting of 6,162 miles of gas transmission and gathering lines and five underground storage reservoirs, all within Texas.

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      The purchase price for the TXU Gas acquisition was approximately $1.9 billion (after closing adjustments and before transaction costs and expenses), which we paid in cash. We acquired approximately $112 million of working capital and did not assume any indebtedness of TXU Gas in connection with the acquisition. TXU Gas retained certain assets, provided for the repayment of all of its indebtedness and redeemed all of its preferred stock prior to closing and retained and agreed to pay certain other liabilities under the terms of the acquisition agreement.
      We funded the purchase price for the TXU Gas acquisition with approximately $235.7 million in net proceeds from our offering of approximately 9.9 million shares of common stock, which we completed on July 19, 2004, and approximately $1.7 billion in net proceeds from our issuance on October 1, 2004 of commercial paper backstopped by a senior unsecured revolving credit agreement, which we entered into on September 24, 2004 for bridge financing for the TXU Gas acquisition. In October 2004, we repaid the commercial paper used to fund the acquisition through the issuance of senior unsecured notes on October 22, 2004 which generated net proceeds of approximately $1.39 billion and the sale of 16.1 million shares of common stock on October 27, 2004, which generated net proceeds of approximately $382.5 million before other offering costs.
      We have experienced over 20 consecutive years of increasing dividends and earnings growth after giving effect to our acquisitions. We have achieved this record of growth while operating our utility operations efficiently by managing our operating and maintenance expenses, leveraging our technology, such as our 24-hour call centers, to achieve more efficient operations, focusing on regulatory rate proceedings to increase revenue as our costs increase and mitigating weather-related risks through weather-normalized rates in many of our service areas. Additionally, we have strengthened our nonutility business by increasing gross profit margins, actively pursuing opportunities to increase the amount of storage available to us and expanding commercial opportunities on our intrastate Texas pipeline.
      Our core values include focusing on our employees and customers while conducting our business with honesty and integrity. We continue to strengthen our culture through ongoing communications with our employees and enhanced employee training.
Utility Segment Overview
      We operate our utility segment through the following seven regulated natural gas utility divisions:
  •  Atmos Energy Colorado-Kansas Division,
 
  •  Atmos Energy Kentucky Division,
 
  •  Atmos Energy Louisiana Division,
 
  •  Atmos Energy Mid-States Division,
 
  •  Atmos Energy Mid-Tex Division (acquired October 2004),
 
  •  Atmos Energy Mississippi Division (formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Gas Company Division) and
 
  •  Atmos Energy West Texas Division.
      Our natural gas utility distribution business is seasonal and dependent on weather conditions in our service areas. Gas sales to residential and commercial customers are greater during the winter months than during the remainder of the year. The volumes of gas sales during the winter months will vary with the temperatures during these months. The seasonal nature of our sales to residential and commercial customers is partially offset by our sales in the spring and summer months to our agricultural customers in Texas, Colorado and Kansas who use natural gas to operate irrigation equipment.
      In addition to weather, our financial results are affected by the cost of natural gas and economic conditions in the areas that we serve. Higher gas costs, which we are generally able to pass through to our customers under purchased gas adjustment clauses, may cause customers to conserve, or, in the case of

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industrial customers, to use alternative energy sources. Higher gas costs may also adversely impact our accounts receivable collections, resulting in higher bad debt expense and may require us to increase borrowings under our credit facilities resulting in higher interest expense.
      The effect of weather that is above or below normal is partially offset through weather normalization adjustments, or WNA, as approved by the regulators in certain of our service areas. WNA allows us to increase customers’ bills to offset lower gas usage when weather is warmer than normal and decrease customers’ bills to offset higher gas usage when weather is colder than normal. As of September 30, 2005 we had WNA in the following service areas for the following periods, which covered approximately 1.0 million of our meters in service:
     
Tennessee
  November — April
Georgia
  October — May
Mississippi (1)
  November — May
Kentucky
  November — April
Kansas
  October — May
Amarillo, Texas
  October — May
West Texas
  October — May
Lubbock, Texas
  October — May
Virginia (2)
  January — December
 
(1)   Beginning in October 2005, the WNA period for Mississippi will be November — April.
 
(2)   Effective beginning in July 2005.
      Our Mid-Tex Division does not have WNA. However, their operations benefit from a rate structure that combines a monthly customer charge with a declining block rate schedule to partially mitigate the impact of warmer-than-normal weather on revenue. The combination of the monthly customer charge and the customer billing under the first block of the declining block rate schedule provides for the recovery of most of our fixed costs for such operations under most weather conditions. However, this rate structure is not as beneficial during periods where weather is significantly warmer than normal.
      Our natural gas supply comes from a variety of third party providers and from gas held in storage. We anticipate that the natural gas supply for the upcoming winter heating season will be provided by a variety of suppliers, including independent producers, marketers and pipeline companies, in addition to withdrawals of gas from storage. Additionally, the natural gas supply for our Mid-Tex Division includes peaking and spot purchase agreements. We also contract for storage service in underground storage facilities on many of the interstate pipelines serving us. We estimate the peak-day availability of natural gas supply from long-term contracts, short-term contracts and withdrawals from underground storage to be approximately 4.2 Bcf. The peak-day demand for our utility operations in fiscal 2005 was on December 23, 2004, when sales to customers reached approximately 3.5 Bcf.
      Supply arrangements are contracted from our suppliers on a firm basis with various terms at market prices. The firm supply consists of both base load and swing supply quantities. Base load quantities are those that flow at a constant level throughout the month and swing supply quantities provide the flexibility to change daily quantities to match increases or decreases in requirements related to weather conditions. Except for local production purchases, we select suppliers through a competitive bidding process by requesting proposals from suppliers that have demonstrated that they can provide reliable service. We select these suppliers based on their ability to deliver gas supply to our designated firm pipeline receipt points at the lowest cost. Major suppliers during fiscal 2005 were Anadarko Energy Services, BP Energy Company, Chevron Corporation, ConocoPhillips Company, Cross Timbers Energy Services, Inc., Devon Gas Services, L.P., Enbridge Marketing (US) L.P., Oneok Energy Services Company, L.P., Tenaska Marketing and Atmos Energy Marketing, LLC, our natural gas marketing subsidiary.

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      The combination of base load, peaking and spot purchase agreements, coupled with the withdrawal of gas held in storage, allows us the flexibility to adjust to changes in weather, which minimizes our need to enter into firm commitments.
      Also, to maintain our deliveries to high priority customers, we have the ability, and have exercised our right, to curtail deliveries to certain customers under the terms of interruptible contracts, applicable state statutes or regulations. Our customers’ demand on our system is not necessarily indicative of our ability to meet current or anticipated market demands or immediate delivery requirements because of factors such as the physical limitations of gathering, storage and transmission systems, the duration and severity of cold weather, the availability of gas reserves from our suppliers, the ability to purchase additional supplies on a short-term basis and actions by federal and state regulatory authorities. Curtailment rights provide us the flexibility to meet the human-needs requirements of our customers on a firm basis. Priority allocations imposed by federal and state regulatory agencies, as well as other factors beyond our control, may affect our ability to meet the demands of our customers. We anticipate no problems with obtaining additional gas supply as needed for our customers.
      We receive gas deliveries for all of our utility divisions, except for our Mid-Tex Division, through 37 pipeline transportation companies, both interstate and intrastate, to satisfy our natural gas needs. The pipeline transportation agreements are firm and many of them have “pipeline no-notice” storage service which provides for daily balancing between system requirements and nominated flowing supplies. These agreements have been negotiated with the shortest term necessary while still maintaining our right of first refusal. The natural gas supply for our Mid-Tex Division is delivered by our Atmos Pipeline — Texas Division, which was formed from the natural gas transmission and storage operations that we acquired in the TXU Gas acquisition.
      The following is a brief description of our seven natural gas utility divisions. Additional information for our natural gas utility divisions is presented under the caption “Operating Statistics”.
      Atmos Energy Colorado-Kansas Division. Our Colorado-Kansas Division operates in Colorado, Kansas and the southwestern corner of Missouri and is regulated by each respective state’s public service commission with respect to accounting, rates and charges, operating matters and the issuance of securities. We operate under terms of non-exclusive franchises granted by the various cities. Rates in our Kansas service area are subject to WNA. The principal transporters of the Colorado-Kansas Division’s gas supply requirements are Colorado Interstate Gas Company, Northwest Pipeline, Public Service Company of Colorado and Southern Star Central Pipeline. Additionally, the Colorado-Kansas Division purchases substantial volumes from producers that are connected directly to its distribution system.
      Atmos Energy Kentucky Division. Our Kentucky Division operates in Kentucky and is regulated by the Kentucky Public Service Commission, which regulates utility services, rates, issuance of securities and other matters. We operate in various incorporated cities pursuant to non-exclusive franchises granted by these cities. The sale of natural gas for use as vehicle fuel in Kentucky is unregulated. We will operate under a performance-based rate program through March 2006. Under the performance-based program, we and our customers jointly share in any actual gas cost savings achieved when compared to pre-determined benchmarks. Our rates are also subject to WNA. The Kentucky Division’s gas supply is delivered primarily by Midwestern Pipeline, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, Texas Gas Transmission LLC and Trunkline Gas Company.
      Atmos Energy Louisiana Division. Our Louisiana Division operates in Louisiana and includes the operations of the Louisiana Gas Service Company assets acquired in July 2001, which serves the metropolitan area of Monroe and the suburban areas of New Orleans, and our previously existing Trans La Division, which serves western Louisiana. Our Louisiana Division is regulated by the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC), which regulates utility services, rates and other matters. We operate most of our service areas pursuant to a non-exclusive franchise granted by the governing authority of each area. Direct sales of natural gas to industrial customers in Louisiana, who use gas for fuel or in manufacturing processes, and sales of natural gas for vehicle fuel are exempt from regulation and are recognized in our natural gas marketing segment. The principal transporters of the Louisiana Division’s gas supply requirements are Acadian Pipeline,

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Gulf South, Louisiana Intrastate Gas Company, Texas Gas Transmission LLC and Trans Louisiana Gas Pipeline, Inc., a subsidiary of Atmos Pipeline and Storage, LLC.
      Atmos Energy Mid-States Division. Our Mid-States Division operates in Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia. In each of these states, our rates, services and operations as a natural gas distribution company are subject to general regulation by each state’s public service commission. We operate in each community, where necessary, under a franchise granted by the municipality for a fixed term of years. In Tennessee and Georgia, we have WNA and a performance-based rate program, which provides incentives for us to find ways to lower costs and share the cost savings with our customers. Beginning in July 2005, we have WNA in Virginia that will cover the entire year. Our Mid-States Division is served by 13 interstate pipelines; however, the majority of the volumes are transported through Columbia Gulf, East Tennessee Pipeline, Southern Natural Gas and Tennessee Gas Pipeline.
      Atmos Energy Mid-Tex Division. Our Mid-Tex Division, which represents the distribution assets and operations that we acquired from TXU Gas on October 1, 2004, includes natural gas distribution operations that operate in the north-central, eastern and western parts of Texas. The Mid-Tex Division purchases, distributes and sells natural gas to approximately 1.5 million residential and business customers in approximately 550 cities and towns, including the 11-county Dallas/ Fort Worth metropolitan area. Under a May 2004 rate filing, this division operates under a system-wide rate structure along with the pipeline operations we acquired in the acquisition. The governing body of each municipality we serve has original jurisdiction over all utility rates, operations and services within its city limits, except with respect to sales of natural gas for vehicle fuel and agricultural use. We operate pursuant to non-exclusive franchises granted by the municipalities we serve, which are subject to renewal from time to time. The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) has exclusive appellate jurisdiction over all rate and regulatory orders and ordinances of the municipalities and exclusive original jurisdiction over rates and services to customers not located within the limits of a municipality. This division does not have WNA. However, our operations benefit from a declining block rate structure that partially mitigates the impact of warmer-than-normal weather on revenue. This rate structure is not as beneficial during periods where weather is significantly warmer than normal. The majority of this division’s residential and business customers use natural gas for heating, and their needs are directly affected by the mildness or severity of the heating season.
      At closing of the acquisition, TXU Gas and some of its affiliates entered into transitional services agreements with us to provide call center, meter reading, customer billing, collections, information reporting, software, accounting, treasury, administrative and other services to the Mid-Tex Division. Some of these services were outsourced by TXU Gas to Capgemini Energy L.P. However, on November 4, 2004, we entered into an agreement with Capgemini Energy L.P. whereby we took over the operations of the Waco, Texas call center on April 1, 2005 and purchased from Capgemini Energy L.P. all of the related call center assets on October 1, 2005. The remaining transitional services agreements expired on September 30, 2005 and were not renewed as we have in-sourced all of these functions, effective October 1, 2005.
      Atmos Energy Mississippi Division. Our Atmos Energy Mississippi Division (formerly known as Mississippi Valley Gas Company Division), which was acquired in December 2002, operates in Mississippi and is regulated by the Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC) with respect to rates, services and operations. We operate under non-exclusive franchises granted by the municipalities we serve. Since the acquisition, we have been operating under a rate structure that allows us, over a five-year period, to recover a portion of our integration costs associated with the acquisition and operations and maintenance costs in excess of an agreed-upon benchmark. In addition, we were required to file for rate adjustments based on our expenses every six months. Effective October 1, 2005, our rate design was modified to substitute the original agreed-upon benchmark with a sharing mechanism to allow the sharing of cost savings above an allowed return on equity level. Further, we will move from a semi-annual filing process to an annual filing process. We also have WNA in Mississippi. This division’s gas supply is delivered by Gulf South Pipeline Company, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, Southern Natural Gas Company, Texas Eastern Transmission, Texas Gas Transmission LLC, Trunkline Gas Co. LLC and Enbridge Marketing LP.

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      Atmos Energy West Texas Division. Our West Texas Division operates in Texas in three primary service areas: the Amarillo service area, the Lubbock service area and the West Texas service area. Similar to our Mid-Tex Division, the governing body of each municipality we serve has original jurisdiction over all utility rates, operations and services within its city limits, except with respect to sales of natural gas for vehicle fuel and agricultural use. We operate pursuant to non-exclusive franchises granted by the municipalities we serve, which are subject to renewal from time to time. The RRC has exclusive appellate jurisdiction over all rate and regulatory orders and ordinances of the municipalities and exclusive original jurisdiction over rates and services to customers not located within the limits of a municipality. During 2004, the West Texas Division received approval from the City of Lubbock, Texas and the 66 cities in our West Texas system, for WNA in these service areas, which is effective October through May of each year, beginning with the 2004-2005 winter heating season. We also have WNA in our Amarillo service area. Our West Texas Division receives transportation service from ONEOK Pipeline. In addition, the West Texas Division purchases a significant portion of its natural gas supply from Pioneer Natural Resources, which is connected directly to our Amarillo, Texas, distribution system.
Natural Gas Marketing Segment Overview
      Our natural gas marketing and other nonutility segments, which are organized under Atmos Energy Holdings, Inc. (AEH), have operations in 22 states. Through September 30, 2003, Atmos Energy Marketing, LLC, together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries Woodward Marketing, L.L.C. and Trans Louisiana Industrial Gas Company, Inc., comprised our natural gas marketing segment. Effective October 1, 2003, our natural gas marketing segment was reorganized. The operations of Atmos Energy Marketing, L.L.C. and Trans Louisiana Industrial Gas Company, Inc. were merged into Woodward Marketing, L.L.C., which was renamed Atmos Energy Marketing, LLC (AEM).
      We acquired a 45 percent interest in Woodward Marketing, L.L.C. in July 1997 as a result of the merger of Atmos and United Cities Gas Company, which had acquired that interest in May 1995. In April 2001, we acquired the remaining 55 percent interest that we did not own for 1,423,193 restricted shares of our common stock.
      AEM provides a variety of natural gas management services to municipalities, natural gas utility systems and industrial natural gas consumers primarily in the southeastern and midwestern states and to our Kentucky, Louisiana and Mid-States divisions. These services primarily consist of furnishing natural gas supplies at fixed and market-based prices, contract negotiation and administration, load forecasting, gas storage acquisition and management services, transportation services, peaking sales and balancing services, capacity utilization strategies and gas price management through the use of derivative products. We use proprietary and customer-owned transportation and storage assets to provide the various services our customers request. As a result, our revenues arise from the types of commercial transactions we have structured with our customers and include the value we extract by optimizing the storage and transportation capacity we own or control as well as revenues for services we deliver.
      We participate in transactions in which we combine the natural gas commodity and transportation costs to minimize our costs incurred to serve our customers. Additionally, we participate in natural gas storage transactions in which we seek to capture the pricing differences that occur over time. We purchase or sell physical natural gas and then sell or purchase financial contracts at a price sufficient to cover our carrying costs and provide a gross profit margin. Through the use of transportation and storage services and derivatives, we are able to capture gross profit margin through the arbitrage of pricing differences in various locations and by recognizing pricing differences that occur over time.
      AEM’s management of natural gas requirements involves the sale of natural gas and the management of storage and transportation supplies under contracts with customers generally having one to two year terms. AEM also sells natural gas to some of its industrial customers on a delivered burner tip basis under contract terms from 30 days to two years. At September 30, 2005, AEM had a total of 558 industrial, 69 municipal and 210 other customers.

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Pipeline and Storage Segment Overview
      Our pipeline and storage segment consists of the regulated pipeline and storage operations of the Atmos Pipeline — Texas Division and the nonregulated pipeline and storage operations of Atmos Pipeline and Storage, LLC. The natural gas transmission and storage operations that we acquired in the TXU Gas acquisition, which are operated in the Atmos Pipeline — Texas Division, represent one of the largest intrastate pipeline operations in Texas. The Atmos Pipeline — Texas Division transports natural gas to our Mid-Tex Division and for third parties. These operations include interconnected natural gas transmission lines, five underground storage reservoirs (including a salt dome facility) and 24 compressor stations and related properties, all within Texas. These operations may create additional gas marketing and other opportunities for our non-regulated subsidiaries.
      The gas distribution and transmission lines we acquired have been constructed over lands of others pursuant to easements or along public highways, streets and rights-of-way as permitted by law. In addition to being heavily concentrated in the established natural gas-producing areas of central, northern and eastern Texas, the intrastate pipeline system we acquired also extends into or near the major producing areas of the Texas Gulf Coast and the Delaware and Val Verde Basins of West Texas. Nine basins located in Texas are estimated to contain a substantial portion of the nation’s remaining onshore natural gas reserves. This pipeline system provides access to all of these basins. We believe that we are well situated to receive large volumes into this pipeline system at the major hubs, such as Katy, Waha and Carthage as well as from storage facilities where we maintain high delivery capabilities.
      APS owns or has an interest in underground storage fields in Kentucky and Louisiana. We also use these storage facilities to reduce the need to contract for additional pipeline capacity to meet customer demand during peak periods.
Other Nonutility Segment Overview
      Our other nonutility segment consists primarily of the operations of Atmos Energy Services, LLC (AES), and Atmos Power Systems, Inc. which are wholly-owned by our subsidiary, Atmos Energy Holdings, Inc. Through AES, we provide natural gas management services to our utility operations, other than the Mid-Tex Division. These services, which began on April 1, 2004, include aggregating and purchasing gas supply, arranging transportation and storage logistics and ultimately delivering the gas to our utility service areas at competitive prices in exchange for revenues that are equal to the costs incurred to provide those services. Through Atmos Power Systems, Inc., we construct gas-fired electric peaking power-generating plants and associated facilities and may enter into agreements to either lease or sell these plants.
      Through January 20, 2004, United Cities Propane Gas, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Atmos Energy Holdings, Inc., owned an approximate 19 percent membership interest in U.S. Propane L.P. (USP), a joint venture formed in February 2000 with other utility companies to own a limited partnership interest in Heritage Propane Partners, L.P. (Heritage), a publicly-traded marketer of propane through a nationwide retail distribution network. During fiscal 2004, we sold our interest in USP and Heritage. As a result of these transactions, we no longer have an interest in the propane business.

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Operating Statistics
      The following tables present certain operating statistics for our utility, natural gas marketing, pipeline and storage and other nonutility segments for each of the five fiscal years from 2001 through 2005.
Utility Sales and Statistical Data
                                             
    Year Ended September 30
     
    2005 (1)   2004   2003 (1)   2002   2001 (1)
                     
METERS IN SERVICE, end of year
                                       
 
Residential
    2,862,822       1,506,777       1,498,586       1,247,247       1,243,625  
 
Commercial
    274,536       151,381       151,008       122,156       122,274  
 
Industrial
    2,715       2,436       3,799       2,118       1,838  
 
Agricultural
    9,639       8,397       9,514       10,576       11,182  
 
Public authority and other
    8,128       10,145       9,891       7,244       7,404  
                               
   
Total meters
    3,157,840       1,679,136       1,672,798       1,389,341       1,386,323  
                               
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (2)
                                       
 
Actual (weighted average)
    2,587       3,271       3,473       3,368       4,124  
 
Percent of normal
    89%       96%       101%       94%       115%  
 
UTILITY SALES VOLUMES — MMcf (3)
                                       
Gas Sales Volumes
                                       
 
Residential
    162,016       92,208       97,953       77,386       79,000  
 
Commercial
    92,401       44,226       45,611       35,796       36,922  
 
Industrial
    29,434       22,330       23,738       14,499       19,243  
 
Agricultural
    3,348       4,642       7,884       10,988       7,070  
 
Public authority and other
    9,084       9,813       9,326       5,875       6,892  
                               
   
Total gas sales volumes
    296,283       173,219       184,512       144,544       149,127  
Utility transportation volumes
    122,098       87,746       70,159       69,589       69,492  
                               
Total utility throughput
    418,381       260,965       254,671       214,133       218,619  
                               
UTILITY OPERATING REVENUES (000’s) (3)                                
Gas Sales Revenues
                                       
 
Residential
  $ 1,791,172     $ 923,773     $ 873,375     $ 535,981     $ 788,902  
 
Commercial
    869,722       400,704       367,961       221,728       342,945  
 
Industrial
    229,649       155,336       151,969       70,164       120,770  
 
Agricultural
    27,889       31,851       48,625       37,951       28,753  
 
Public authority and other
    86,853       77,178       65,921       31,731       58,539  
                               
   
Total utility gas sales revenues
    3,005,285       1,588,842       1,507,851       897,555       1,339,909  
Transportation revenues
    59,996       31,714       30,461       28,786       28,750  
Other gas revenues
    37,859       17,172       15,770       11,185       11,489  
                               
   
Total utility operating revenues
  $ 3,103,140     $ 1,637,728     $ 1,554,082     $ 937,526     $ 1,380,148  
                               
Utility average transportation revenue per Mcf
  $ 0.49     $ 0.36     $ 0.43     $ 0.41     $ 0.41  
Utility average cost of gas per Mcf sold
  $ 7.41     $ 6.55     $ 5.76     $ 3.87     $ 6.82  
 
Employees (5)
    4,327       2,742       2,817       2,255       2,299  
See footnotes following these tables.

11


Utility Sales and Statistical Data By Division
                                                                             
    Year Ended September 30, 2005
     
    Colorado-       Mid-   West       Total
    Kansas   Kentucky   Louisiana   States   Texas   Mississippi   Mid-Tex   Other (4)   Utility
                                     
METERS IN SERVICE
                                                                       
 
Residential
    209,321       159,216       348,576       276,667       267,278       244,136       1,357,628             2,862,822  
 
Commercial
    20,914       18,350       23,850       36,519       25,410       28,350       121,143             274,536  
 
Industrial
    81       239             684       816       664       231             2,715  
 
Agricultural
    279                         9,360                         9,639  
 
Public authority and other
    476       1,650             1,066       2,139       2,797                   8,128  
                                                       
   
Total
    231,071       179,455       372,426       314,936       305,003       275,947       1,479,002             3,157,840  
                                                       
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (2)
                                                                       
 
Actual
    5,437       4,241       1,301       3,510       3,536       2,583       1,904             2,587  
 
Percent of normal
    99%       98%       78%       93%       99%       96%       80%             89%  
SALES VOLUMES — MMcf (3)
                                                                       
Gas Sales Volumes
                                                                       
 
Residential
    16,404       10,741       13,134       16,222       19,292       12,985       73,238             162,016  
 
Commercial
    5,929       4,891       6,811       11,806       7,493       6,711       48,760             92,401  
 
Industrial
    338       1,858             8,205       4,477       9,057       5,499             29,434  
 
Agricultural
    246                         3,102                         3,348  
 
Public authority and other
    1,355       1,396             241       2,296       3,796                   9,084  
                                                       
   
Total
    24,272       18,886       19,945       36,474       36,660       32,549       127,497             296,283  
Transportation Volumes
    8,388       26,066       7,046       20,142       12,390       1,309       46,757             122,098  
                                                       
Total Throughput
    32,660       44,952       26,991       56,616       49,050       33,858       174,254             418,381  
                                                       
 
OPERATING MARGIN (000’s) (3)
  $ 70,542     $ 52,302     $ 94,350     $ 110,012     $ 90,316     $ 91,610     $ 398,234     $     $ 907,366  
OPERATING EXPENSES (000’s) (3)                                                        
 
Operation and maintenance
  $ 26,679     $ 18,618     $ 37,994     $ 38,427     $ 29,701     $ 49,241     $ 146,449     $ (515 )   $ 346,594  
 
Depreciation and amortization
  $ 13,693     $ 11,739     $ 21,911     $ 23,615     $ 13,249     $ 10,830     $ 64,460     $     $ 159,497  
 
Taxes, other than income
  $ 5,013     $ 3,288     $ 9,626     $ 12,283     $ 19,846     $ 12,494     $ 102,360     $     $ 164,910  
OPERATING INCOME (000’s) (3)
  $ 25,157     $ 18,657     $ 24,819     $ 35,687     $ 27,520     $ 19,045     $ 84,965     $ 515     $ 236,365  
 
CAPITAL EXPENDITURES (000’s)
  $ 20,690     $ 17,525     $ 31,198     $ 34,176     $ 29,066     $ 15,925     $ 115,024     $ 36,970     $ 300,574  
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT, NET (000’s)
  $ 244,250     $ 183,931     $ 318,869     $ 416,825     $ 263,285     $ 206,511     $ 1,167,425     $ 125,000     $ 2,926,096  
OTHER STATISTICS, at year end
                                                                       
 
Miles of pipe
    6,530       3,908       8,151       7,958       15,000       6,356       33,701             81,604  
 
Employees (5)
    267       236       421       412       346       467       1,398       780       4,327  
See footnotes following these tables.

12


                                                                     
    Year Ended September 30, 2004
     
    Colorado-       Mid-   West    
    Kansas   Kentucky   Louisiana   States   Texas   Mississippi   Other (4)   Total Utility
                                 
METERS IN SERVICE
                                                               
 
Residential
    205,028       159,214       348,390       274,662       270,854       248,629             1,506,777  
 
Commercial
    19,190       18,077       22,754       36,187       25,818       29,355             151,381  
 
Industrial
    85       409             712       548       682             2,436  
 
Agricultural
    295                         8,102                   8,397  
 
Public authority and other
    1,757       1,655       931       880       2,158       2,764             10,145  
                                                 
   
Total
    226,355       179,355       372,075       312,441       307,480       281,430             1,679,136  
                                                 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS (2)
                                                               
 
Actual
    5,490       4,283       1,515       3,631       3,252       2,734             3,271  
 
Percent of normal
    99%       98%       93%       95%       101%       90%             96%  
SALES VOLUMES — MMcf (3)
                                                               
Gas Sales Volumes
                                                               
 
Residential
    16,271       10,980       14,997       17,257       18,402       14,301             92,208  
 
Commercial
    6,093       4,865       6,699       12,502       6,953       7,114             44,226  
 
Industrial
    304       1,713             7,852       3,393       9,068             22,330  
 
Agricultural
    526                         4,116                   4,642  
 
Public authority and other
    1,491       1,451       814       249       2,157       3,651             9,813  
                                                 
   
Total
    24,685       19,009       22,510       37,860       35,021       34,134             173,219  
Transportation Volumes
    8,879       27,059       7,073       22,001       20,579       2,155             87,746  
                                                 
Total Throughput
    33,564       46,068       29,583       59,861       55,600       36,289             260,965  
                                                 
 
OPERATING MARGIN (000’s) (3)
  $ 65,539     $ 52,567     $ 106,184     $ 112,904     $ 85,805     $ 80,135     $     $ 503,134  
OPERATING EXPENSES (000’s) (3)
                                                               
 
Operation and maintenance
  $ 25,934     $ 16,077     $ 35,084     $ 40,806     $ 47,134     $ 29,128     $ 1,308     $ 195,471  
 
Depreciation and amortization
  $ 13,178     $ 11,025     $ 21,214     $ 23,069     $ 8,993     $ 12,720     $ 2,755     $ 92,954  
 
Taxes, other than income
  $ 5,551     $ 2,727     $ 9,124     $ 10,251     $ 10,969     $ 16,197     $     $ 54,819  
 
OPERATING INCOME (000’s) (3)
  $ 20,876     $ 22,738     $ 40,762     $ 38,778     $ 18,709     $ 22,090     $ (4,063 )   $ 159,890  
 
CAPITAL EXPENDITURES (000’s)
  $ 22,226     $ 20,902     $ 36,865     $ 36,863     $ 36,196     $ 21,503     $ 14,736     $ 189,291  
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT, NET (000’s)
  $ 235,386     $ 174,473     $ 309,267     $ 400,302     $ 246,381     $ 199,443     $ 104,052     $ 1,669,304  
OTHER STATISTICS, at year end
                                                               
 
Miles of pipe
    6,405       3,851       8,063       7,878       15,125       6,294             47,616  
 
Employees (5)
    278       239       431       427       349       519       499       2,742  
See footnotes following these tables.

13


Natural Gas Marketing, Pipeline and Storage and Other Nonutility Operations Sales and Statistical Data
                                             
    Year Ended September 30
     
    2005 (1)   2004   2003   2002   2001
                     
CUSTOMERS, end of year
                                       
 
Industrial (6)
    624       638       644       641       531  
 
Municipal (6)
    69       80       94       101       68  
 
Other (6)
    401       237       202       117       125  
                               
   
Total
    1,094       955       940       859       724  
                               
NATURAL GAS MARKETING SALES VOLUMES — MMcf (3)(6)
    273,201       265,090       294,785       273,692       98,869  
PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION VOLUMES  — MMcf (3)
    563,949       9,395       11,648       12,788       10,947  
OPERATING REVENUES (000’s) (3)
                                       
 
Natural gas marketing
  $ 2,106,278     $ 1,618,602     $ 1,668,493     $ 1,031,874     $ 447,096  
 
Pipeline and storage
    164,742       19,758       20,298       18,720       29,996  
 
Other nonutility
    5,302       3,393       2,853       5,985       29,440  
                               
   
Total operating revenues
  $ 2,276,322     $ 1,641,753     $ 1,691,644     $ 1,056,579     $ 506,532  
                               
Equity in earnings of Woodward
Marketing L.L.C. (6)
  $     $     $     $     $ 8,062  
                               
Employees, at year end
    216       122       88       83       62  
 
Notes to preceding tables:
(1)   The operational and statistical information includes the operations of LGS since the July 1, 2001 acquisition date, the operations of the Mississippi Division since the December 3, 2002 acquisition date and the Mid-Tex and Atmos Pipeline — Texas Divisions since the October 1, 2004 acquisition date.
 
(2)   A heating degree day is equivalent to each degree that the average of the high and the low temperatures for a day is below 65 degrees. The colder the climate, the greater the number of heating degree days. Heating degree days are used in the natural gas industry to measure the relative coldness of weather and to compare relative temperatures between one geographic area and another. Normal degree days are based on 30-year average National Weather Service data for selected locations. Degree-day information is adjusted for service areas that have weather normalized operations.
 
(3)   Sales volumes, revenues, operating margins, operating expense and operating income reflect segment operations, including intercompany sales and transportation amounts.
 
(4)   The Other column represents our utility shared services unit, which provides administrative and other support to our seven regulated utility divisions. Certain costs incurred by this unit are not allocated to our other utility divisions.
 
(5)   The number of utility employees excludes 216, 122, 88, 83 and 62 other segment employees in 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002 and 2001.
 
(6)   Through March 31, 2001, substantially all of our natural gas marketing revenues and expenses were shown on the equity basis. Since April 1, 2001 natural gas marketing revenues and expenses have been consolidated.

14


Ratemaking Activity
Overview
      The method of determining regulated rates varies among the states in which our natural gas utility divisions operate. The regulators have the responsibility of ensuring that utilities under their jurisdictions operate in the best interests of customers while providing utility companies the opportunity to earn a reasonable return on investment. Generally, each regulatory authority reviews our rate request and establishes a rate structure intended to generate revenue sufficient to cover our costs of doing business and provide a reasonable return on invested capital.
      Rates established by regulatory authorities are adjusted for increases and decreases in our purchased gas cost through purchased gas adjustment mechanisms. Purchased gas adjustment mechanisms provide gas utility companies a method of recovering purchased gas costs on an ongoing basis without filing a rate case to address all of the utility’s non-gas costs. These mechanisms are commonly utilized when regulatory authorities recognize a particular type of expense, such as purchased gas costs, that (i) is subject to significant price fluctuations compared to the utility’s other costs, (ii) represents a large component of the utility’s cost of service and (iii) is generally outside the control of the gas utility. There is no gross profit generated through purchased gas adjustments, but they do provide a dollar-for-dollar offset to increases or decreases in utility gas costs. Although substantially all of our utility sales to our customers fluctuate with the cost of gas that we purchase, utility gross profit (which is defined as operating revenues less purchased gas cost) is generally not affected by fluctuations in the cost of gas due to the purchased gas adjustment mechanism. Additionally, certain jurisdictions have introduced performance-based ratemaking adjustments to provide incentives to natural gas utilities to minimize purchased gas costs through improved storage management and use of financial hedges to lock in gas costs. Under the performance-based ratemaking adjustment, purchased gas costs savings are shared between the utility and its customers.
      The following table summarizes certain information regarding our ratemaking jurisdictions.
Jurisdictional Rate Summary
                                 
        Effective            
        Date of Last   Rate Base   Authorized Rate of   Authorized Return
Division   Jurisdiction   Rate Action   (thousands) (1)   Return (1)   on Equity
                     
Atmos Pipeline — Texas
  Texas   5/24/04   $ 417,111       8.258%       10.00%  
Colorado-Kansas
  Colorado   7/1/05     84,711       8.95%       11.25%  
    Kansas   3/1/04     (2)       (2)       (2)  
Kentucky
  Kentucky   12/21/99     (2)       (2)       (2)  
Louisiana
  Trans LA   10/1/04     81,645       9.14%       10.50% - 11.50%  
    LGS   10/1/04     170,358       9.23%       10.88% - 11.50%  
Mid-States
  Georgia   11/25/96     38,451       10.10%       11.50%  
    Illinois   11/1/00     24,564       9.18%       11.56%  
    Iowa   3/1/01     5,000       (2)       11.00%  
    Missouri   10/14/95     (2)       10.58%       12.15%  
    Tennessee   11/15/95     111,970       (2)       (2)  
    Virginia   8/1/04     30,672       8.46% - 8.96%       9.50% - 10.50%  
Mid-Tex
  Texas   5/24/04     769,721       8.258%       10.00%  
Mississippi
  Mississippi   1/1/05     196,801       8.23%       9.80%  
West Texas
  Amarillo   9/1/03     36,844       9.88%       12.00%  
    Lubbock   3/1/04     43,300       9.15%       11.25%  
    West Texas   5/1/04     87,500       8.77%       10.50%  
See footnotes on the following page.

15


                                                 
        Effective   Authorized   Bad        
        Date of Last   Debt/   Debt       Performance-Based
Division   Jurisdiction   Rate Action   Equity Ratio   Rider   WNA   Rate Program (3)
                         
Atmos Pipeline — Texas
    Texas       5/24/04       50/50       No       N/A       N/A  
Colorado-Kansas
    Colorado       7/1/05       52/48       No       No       No  
      Kansas       3/1/04       (2)       Yes       Yes       No  
Kentucky
    Kentucky       12/21/99       (2)       No       Yes       Yes  
Louisiana
    Trans LA       10/1/04       50/50       No       No       No  
      LGS       10/1/04       53/47       No       No       No  
Mid-States
    Georgia       11/25/96       55/45       No       Yes       Yes  
      Illinois       11/1/00       67/33       No       No       No  
      Iowa       3/1/01       57/43       No       No       No  
      Missouri       10/14/95       (2)       No       No       No  
      Tennessee       11/15/95       56/44       No       Yes       Yes  
      Virginia       8/1/04       52/48       Yes       Yes       No  
Mid-Tex
    Texas       5/24/04       50/50       No       No       No  
Mississippi
    Mississippi       1/1/05       47/53       No       Yes       No  
West Texas
    Amarillo       9/1/03       50/50       Yes       Yes       No  
      Lubbock       3/1/04       50/50       No       Yes       No  
      West Texas       5/1/04       50/50       No       Yes       No  
 
(1)   The rate base and authorized rate of return presented in this table are the rate base and rate of return from the last base rate case for each jurisdiction. These rate bases and rates of return are not necessarily indicative of current or future rate bases or rates of return.
 
(2)   A rate base, rate of return, return on equity or debt/equity ratio was not included in the respective state commission’s final decision.
 
(3)   The performance-based rate program provides incentives to natural gas utilities to minimize purchased gas costs by allowing the utility and its customers to share the purchased gas cost savings.
Recent Ratemaking Activity
      Our current rate strategy focuses on addressing rate design and regulatory lag issues. We are seeking rate designs that decouple the recovery of our approved margins from customer usage patterns due to weather related variability, declining use per customer and energy conservation. Additionally, we are seeking to stratify rates for low income households and to recover the gas cost portion of our bad debt expense.
      We are attempting to address regulatory lag issues by directing discretionary capital spending to jurisdictions that permit us to recover our investment in a more timely manner, working with our regulators to eliminate regulatory lag in our jurisdictions and filing rate cases on a more frequent basis to minimize the regulatory lag to keep our actual returns more closely aligned with our allowed returns.
      Approximately 97 percent of our utility revenues in the fiscal years ended September 30, 2005, 2004 and 2003 were derived from sales at rates set by or subject to approval by local or state authorities. Net annual

16


revenue increases resulting from ratemaking activity totaling $6.3 million, $16.2 million and $18.6 million became effective in fiscal 2005, 2004 and 2003 as summarized below:
                                         
                Increase (Decrease) to Revenue for
    Most Recent           the Year Ended September 30
    Effective   Most Recent        
Division   Date   Rate Action   Jurisdiction   2005   2004   2003
                         
                (In thousands)
Atmos Pipeline — Texas
    4/1/05     GRIP (1)   Texas   $ 1,802     $     $  
Colorado-Kansas
    4/1/04     Show Cause   Colorado           (1,900 )      
      3/1/04     Rate Case   Kansas           2,500        
Louisiana
    11/1/02     Stable Rate Filing   Trans La                 452 (2)
      11/1/02     Stable Rate Filing   LGS                 15,300 (2)
      10/1/04     Stable Rate Filing   LGS     225              
Mid-States
    8/1/04     Rate Case   Virginia           372        
Mississippi
    (3)     Stable Rate Filing   Mississippi     4,300       10,545        
West Texas
    9/1/03     Rate Case   Amarillo                 2,825  
      3/1/04     Rate Case   Lubbock           1,525        
      5/1/04     Rate Case   West Texas           3,200        
                                 
                    $ 6,327     $ 16,242     $ 18,577  
                                 
 
(1)   In 2003, the Texas Legislature approved the Gas Reliability Infrastructure Program (GRIP) which allows natural gas utilities the opportunity to include in their rate base annually approved capital costs incurred in the prior calendar year. Natural gas utilities who enter the program will be required to file a complete rate case at least once every five years.
 
(2)   In 2002, we submitted our 2001 rate stabilization filing and received tariff revisions which resulted in an increase in annual revenues of $0.5 million for our Trans La System and $15.3 million in our LGS System during the first 24-month period beginning in November 2002. Subsequent to the first 24-month period, adjusted rates have provided an increase in annual revenues of $0.4 million for our Trans La System and $11.9 million for our LGS System.
 
(3)   The MPSC required that we file for rate adjustments every six months. Through May 2005, rate filings were made in May and November of each year and the rate adjustments typically became effective in June and December. See further discussion under the recent ratemaking activity for our Atmos Energy Mississippi Division below.
      Additionally, the following ratemaking efforts were initiated during fiscal 2005 but had not been completed as of September 30, 2005:
                 
            Revenue
Division   Rate Action   Jurisdiction   Requested
             
            (In thousands)
Atmos Pipeline — Texas
  GRIP   Texas   $ 1,919  
Louisiana
  Stable Rate Filing   LGS (1)     3,326  
Mid-States
  Rate Case   Georgia     4,023  
Mid-Tex
  2003 GRIP   Texas     6,691  
    2004 GRIP   Texas     6,731  
West Texas
  GRIP   Texas     3,803  
               
            $ 26,493  
               
 
(1)   This rate increase was implemented during fiscal 2005 but has not been recognized in our results of operations as it is subject to refund pending the final resolution of that filing.

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      Our recent ratemaking activity is discussed in greater detail below.
      Atmos Pipeline-Texas. In December 2004, Atmos Pipeline — Texas made a GRIP filing to include in rate base approximately $12.0 million of pipeline capital expenditures made by TXU Gas during calendar year 2003, which should result in additional revenues of approximately $1.8 million. The RRC approved this filing in March 2005. These capital costs are being recovered through a monthly customer charge that began in April 2005. The allowed rate of return is 8.258 percent.
      In September, 2005, Atmos Pipeline — Texas made a GRIP filing to include in rate base approximately $10.6 million of pipeline capital expenditures incurred during calendar year 2004. It is anticipated that $1.9 million in additional annual revenue will be authorized through this filing. A decision on this filing must be made by the RRC before January 4, 2006.
      Atmos Energy Colorado-Kansas Division. In July 2004, the Colorado Public Utility Commission ordered us to issue a one-time credit to our Colorado customers of $1.9 million. The agreement was a result of an inquiry by the Colorado Office of Consumer Counsel related to our earnings in Colorado. The staff of the Colorado Public Utility Commission was also a party to the agreement.
      In May 2003, the Colorado-Kansas Division filed a rate case with the Kansas Corporation Commission for approximately $7.4 million in additional annual revenues. In January 2004, the Kansas Corporation Commission approved an agreement that allowed a $2.5 million increase in our rates effective March 1, 2004. Additionally, the agreement allowed us to increase our monthly customer charges from $5 to $8, provided that we would not file another full rate application prior to September 1, 2005. WNA became effective in Kansas in October 2003 in accordance with the Kansas Corporation Commission’s ruling in May 2003.
      Atmos Energy Louisiana Division. During the second quarter of 2005, the Louisiana Division implemented a rate increase of $3.3 million in its LGS service area. This increase resulted from our Rate Stabilization Clause filing in 2004 and is subject to refund, pending the final resolution of that filing. As the rate increase is subject to refund, we have not recognized the effects of this increase in our results of operations during fiscal 2005.
      During fiscal 2004, the Louisiana Public Service Commission approved tariff revisions for our LGS System totaling $0.2 million that became effective in October 2004.
      In October 2002, Atmos received written notification from the Executive Secretary of the LPSC asserting that a monthly facilities fee of approximately $0.6 million charged since July 2001 to Atmos by Trans Louisiana Gas Pipeline, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Atmos, pursuant to a contract between the parties, was excessive. The Executive Secretary asserted that all monthly facilities fees in excess of approximately $0.1 million from July 2001 should be refunded to ratepayers with interest. On October 8, 2003, the LPSC unanimously voted to approve an agreement to allow us to charge a facilities fee of approximately $0.5 million per month (subject to future escalation) beginning November 1, 2003 for a period of 14 years. No retroactive adjustments were required under this agreement.
      In January and February 2002, our Louisiana Division submitted its 2001 Rate Stabilization filings to the LPSC for the two gas systems we operate in Louisiana. The LPSC audited the filings and found our earnings to be deficient and that rate adjustments were appropriate. Approved tariff revisions, which became effective November 1, 2002, resulted in $15.3 million in additional revenues per year for our LGS System and $0.5 million for our Trans La System during the first 24-month period beginning in November 2002. Subsequent to the first 24-month period, adjusted rates provided total annual revenue increases of $11.9 million for our LGS System and $0.4 million for our Trans La System. As a result of the actions taken by the LPSC, we have decreased the overall weather impact on our revenues in Louisiana, primarily through increases in the fixed portion of customers’ monthly bills.
      In 2001, in connection with its review of our acquisition of Louisiana Gas Service, the LPSC approved a rate structure that requires us to share with the customers of Louisiana Gas Service cost savings that result from the acquisition. The shared cost savings are the difference between operation and maintenance expense in any future year and the 1998 normalized expense for Louisiana Gas Service, indexed for inflation, annual

18


changes in labor costs and customer growth. Since January 1, 2002, customers have been assured they will receive annual savings, which will be indexed for inflation, annual changes in labor costs and customer growth. The sharing mechanism will remain in place for 20 years, subject to established modification procedures.
      Atmos Energy Mid-States Division. During the third quarter of 2005, the Mid-States Division filed a rate case in its Georgia service area seeking a rate increase of $4.0 million. We anticipate that the rate case will be finalized in November 2005.
      In February 2004, the Mid-States Division filed a rate case with the Virginia Corporation Commission (VCC) to request a $1.0 million increase in our base rates, WNA and recovery of the gas cost component of bad-debt expense. The VCC granted a rate increase in November 2004 of $0.4 million that was retroactively effective to July 27, 2004. Additionally, the VCC authorized WNA beginning in July 2005 and the ability to recover the gas cost component of bad debt expense.
      In November 2005, we received a notice from the Tennessee Regulatory Authority that it was opening an investigation into allegations that we are overcharging customers in parts of Tennessee by approximately $10.0 million per year. We do not believe that we are overcharging our customers and we intend to participate fully in the investigation.
      Atmos Energy Mid-Tex Division. In December 2004, the Mid-Tex Division made a GRIP filing to include in rate base approximately $32.0 million of distribution capital expenditures made by TXU Gas during calendar year 2003, which should result in additional revenues of approximately $6.7 million. These capital costs will be recovered through a monthly customer charge that began in October 2005.
      In September 2005, the Mid-Tex Division made a GRIP filing to include in rate base approximately $29.4 million of distribution capital costs incurred during calendar year 2004. It is anticipated that $6.7 million in additional annual revenue will be authorized through this filing. The cities in this division’s service area and the RRC must rule on this filing before January 4, 2006. If necessary, the RRC will rule on an appeal of any cities actions in the first quarter of calendar year 2006.
      On September 1, 2005, the Mid-Tex Division filed its annual gas cost reconciliation with the RRC. The filing involves approximately $14.0 million in refunds of amounts overcollected from customers between July 1, 2004 and June 30, 2005. The Mid-Tex Division has proposed to the RRC the accelerating of refunds to December through March rather than during the usual refund period of October through June to help offset higher gas costs for residential, commercial and industrial customers during the 2005 — 2006 heating season, which proposal is still under consideration.
      In August 2005, we received a “show cause” order from the City of Dallas, which requires us to provide information that demonstrates good cause for showing that our existing distribution rates charged to customers in the city of Dallas should not be reduced. We are currently preparing our response to this order and anticipate filing it by the November 22, 2005 due date.
      In September 2004, the Mid-Tex Division filed its 36-Month Gas Contract Review with the RRC. This proceeding involves a prudency review of gas purchases totaling $2.2 billion made by the Mid-Tex Division from November 1, 2000 through October 31, 2003. A hearing on this matter was held before the RRC in late June. No decision is expected from the RRC until the end of December 2005 or January 2006.
      During the first quarter of fiscal 2005, the Mid-Tex Division pursued a filing initiated by TXU Gas seeking authorization of a surcharge to recover the rate case expenses incurred by the Mid-Tex Division, Atmos Pipeline — Texas Division and the intervening cities in connection with their last systemwide rate case completed in May 2004. The filing also covered the estimated expenses to prosecute the aforementioned recovery docket and the severed dockets from the systemwide rate case. On January 25, 2005, the RRC issued an order authorizing the recovery of the $10.2 million of expenses over a 3-year period with interest.
      The Mid-Tex Division is also pursuing an appeal to the Travis County District Court of the Final Order in its last systemwide rate case completed in May 2004 to obtain a return of and on its investment associated with the Poly I replacement pipe that was originally disallowed in its most recent rate case completed in May 2004. Additionally, the Mid-Tex Division is seeking the right to surcharge for gas cost underrecoveries. The

19


case has been assigned to a judge, but the briefing schedule has been postponed indefinitely to allow the parties to pursue settlement discussions.
      Atmos Energy Mississippi Division. Through the first quarter of fiscal 2005, the MPSC required that we file for rate adjustments every six months. Rate filings were made in May and November of each year and the rate adjustments typically became effective in the following July and January.
      During the second quarter of fiscal 2005, we agreed with the MPSC to suspend our May 2005 semi-annual filing to allow sufficient time for us and the MPSC to undertake a comprehensive review in an effort to improve our rate design and the ratemaking process. Effective October 1, 2005, our rate design was modified to substitute the original agreed-upon benchmark with a sharing mechanism to allow the sharing of cost savings above an allowed return on equity level. Further, we will move from a semi-annual filing process to an annual filing process. Additionally, our WNA period will begin on November 1 instead of November 15, and will end on April 30 instead of May 15. Also, we now have a fixed monthly customer base charge which makes a portion of our earnings less susceptible to usage. We will make our first annual filing under this new structure in September 2006.
      In October 2003, the MPSC issued a final order that denied our May 2003 request for a rate increase of $5.8 million. In January 2004, the MPSC authorized additional annual revenue of $5.9 million on our November 2003 filing, which became effective on December 1, 2003. In September 2004, the MPSC authorized additional annualized revenue of $4.7 million on our May 2004 filing, which became effective on June 1, 2004. However, the MPSC originally disallowed certain deferred costs totaling $2.8 million. In connection with the modification of our rate design described above, the MPSC reversed its decision regarding these costs, and we included these costs into our rates in October 2005.
      We filed our second semiannual filing for 2004 on November 5, 2004, requesting rate adjustments of $6.0 million in annualized revenue. The MPSC allowed us to include $3.0 million in annualized revenue in our rates effective January 1, 2005. In February 2005, we entered into an agreement with the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff that provides for an additional $1.3 million in annualized revenue that was retroactive to January 2005, which was approved by the MPSC during the second quarter of fiscal 2005.
      Atmos Energy West Texas Division. In September 2005, the West Texas Division made a GRIP filing to include in rate base approximately $22.6 million of distribution capital costs incurred during calendar year 2004 which should result in additional annual revenues of approximately $3.8 million. We expect these capital costs will be recovered through a monthly customer charge beginning in December 2005.
      In October 2003, our West Texas Division filed a rate case in Lubbock requesting a $3.0 million increase in annual revenues and WNA for our residential, commercial and public-authority customers. The City of Lubbock approved a $1.5 million increase effective March 1, 2004, as well as the proposed WNA.
      In September 2003, our West Texas Division filed a rate case in its West Texas System to request a $7.7 million increase in annual revenues and WNA for its residential, commercial and public-authority customers. In May 2004, the 66 cities in its West Texas System approved an increase of $3.2 million in our annual utility revenues. The cities also approved a WNA rider for residential, commercial, public-authority and state-institution customers. This rider became effective in October 2004.
      In June 2003, the West Texas Division filed a rate case in Amarillo, Texas, requesting a $5.1 million increase in annual revenues. In August 2003, the City of Amarillo, Texas approved an annual increase of approximately $2.8 million, which was effective for bills rendered on or after September 1, 2003. The increase was primarily comprised of an increase in monthly customer charges. The agreement with Amarillo also provided for changes in the rate structure to recover the cost of uncollectible accounts, adjustments to base rates to compensate for declining gas usage per customer and provided WNA for the period October through May of each year, which became effective in October 2003.

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Other Regulation
      Each of our utility divisions is regulated by various state or local public utility authorities. We are also subject to regulation by the United States Department of Transportation with respect to safety requirements in the operation and maintenance of our gas distribution facilities. Our distribution operations are also subject to various state and federal laws regulating environmental matters. From time to time we receive inquiries regarding various environmental matters. We believe that our properties and operations substantially comply with and are operated in substantial conformity with applicable safety and environmental statutes and regulations. There are no administrative or judicial proceedings arising under environmental quality statutes pending or known to be contemplated by governmental agencies which would have a material adverse effect on us or our operations. Our environmental claims have arisen primarily from manufactured gas plant sites in Tennessee, Iowa and Missouri and mercury contamination sites in Kansas. These claims are more fully described in Note 13 to the consolidated financial statements.
      Our Mid-Tex and Atmos Pipeline — Texas operations are wholly intrastate in character and are subject to regulation by municipalities in Texas and the Railroad Commission of Texas. These acquired operations do not include any certificated interstate transmission facilities subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) under the Natural Gas Act, any sales for resale under the rate jurisdiction of the FERC or any transportation service that is subject to FERC jurisdiction under the Natural Gas Act. Since 1988, the FERC has allowed, pursuant to Section 311 of the Natural Gas Policy Act, gas transportation services through the intrastate transmission facilities we acquired “on behalf of” interstate pipelines or local distribution companies served by interstate pipelines, without subjecting the acquired operations to the jurisdiction of the FERC. We did not acquire any manufactured gas plant sites in the TXU Gas acquisition. Our acquisition agreement with TXU Gas addresses other environmental matters, which we expect to have no material adverse effect on us or our operations.
Competition
      Although our utility operations are not currently in significant direct competition with any other distributors of natural gas to residential and commercial customers within our service areas, we do compete with other natural gas suppliers and suppliers of alternative fuels for sales to industrial and agricultural customers. We compete in all aspects of our business with alternative energy sources, including, in particular, electricity. Electric utilities offer electricity as a rival energy source and compete for the space heating, water heating and cooking markets. Promotional incentives, improved equipment efficiencies and promotional rates all contribute to the acceptability of electrical equipment. The principal means to compete against alternative fuels is lower prices, and natural gas historically has maintained its price advantage in the residential, commercial and industrial markets. However, higher gas prices, coupled with the electric utilities’ marketing efforts, have increased competition for residential and commercial customers. In addition, our Natural Gas Marketing segment competes with other natural gas brokers in obtaining natural gas supplies for our customers.
Employees
      At September 30, 2005, we had 4,543 employees, consisting of 4,327 employees in our utility segment and 216 employees in our other segments. See “Operating Statistics — Utility Sales and Statistical Data by Division” for the number of employees by division.
Available Information
      Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other reports, and amendments to those reports, that we file with or furnish to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are available free of charge at our website, www.atmosenergy.com , as soon as reasonably practicable, after we electronically file such reports with, or furnish such reports to, the SEC. We will also

21


furnish copies of such reports free of charge upon written request to Shareholder Relations at the address appearing below:
  Shareholder Relations
  Atmos Energy Corporation
  P.O. Box 650205
  Dallas, Texas 75265-0205
  972-855-3729
Corporate Governance
      In accordance with and pursuant to relevant provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, related rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as corporate governance listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange, the Board of Directors of the Company has adopted the Company’s Corporate Governance Guidelines and revised the Company’s Code of Conduct, which is applicable to all directors, officers and employees of the Company. In addition, the Board of Directors has amended the charters for each of its Audit, Human Resources and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees. All of the foregoing documents are posted on the Corporate Governance page of the Company’s website. We will also furnish copies of such information free of charge upon written request to Shareholder Relations at the address listed above.
ITEM 2.      Properties
Distribution, transmission and related assets
      At September 30, 2005 our utility segment owned an aggregate of 81,604 miles of underground distribution and transmission mains throughout our gas distribution systems. These mains are located on easements or rights-of-way which generally provide for perpetual use. We maintain our mains through a program of continuous inspection and repair and believe that our system of mains is in good condition. At September 30, 2005, our pipeline and storage segment owned 6,369 miles of gas transmission and gathering lines.
      Our utility segment also holds franchises granted by the incorporated cities and towns that we serve. At September 30, 2005, we held 1,098 franchises having terms generally ranging from five to 35 years. A significant number of our franchises expire each year, which require renewal prior to the end of their terms. We believe that we will be able to renew our franchises as they expire.

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Storage Assets
      Our utility and pipeline and storage segments own underground gas storage facilities in several states to supplement the supply of natural gas in periods of peak demand. The following table summarizes key information regarding our underground gas storage facilities:
                                         
                    Maximum
                    Daily
        Usable       Total   Delivery
        Capacity   Cushion Gas   Capacity   Capability
Facility   Location   (Mcf)   (Mcf) (1)   (Mcf)   (Mcf)
                     
Utility Segment
                                       
Liberty North
    Montgomery County, KS       2,800,000       2,000,000       4,800,000       40,000  
St. Charles
    Hopkins County, KY       2,685,196       3,422,283       6,107,479       44,600  
Amory
    Monroe County, MS       800,635       788,457       1,589,092       30,000  
Bon Harbor
    Daviess County, KY       778,600       1,300,000       2,078,600       24,000  
Goodwin
    Monroe County, MS       743,998       1,393,280       2,137,278       18,000  
Hickory
    Daviess County, KY       451,600       850,000       1,301,600       24,000  
Columbus LNG Plant
    Muscogee County, GA       450,000       50,000       500,000       30,000  
Liberty South
    Montgomery County, KS       439,000       300,000       739,000       5,000  
Grandview
    Daviess County, KY       305,400       350,000       655,400       4,500  
Kirkwood
    Hopkins County, KY       221,900       400,000       621,900       12,000  
Buffalo
    Wilson County, KS       200,000       180,000       380,000       5,000  
Fredonia
    Wilson County, KS       200,000       160,000       360,000       5,000  
                               
Total Utility Segment     10,076,329       11,194,020       21,270,349       242,100  
Pipeline and Storage Segment                                
Tri-Cities (2)
    Malakoff, TX       19,993,475       5,660,000       25,653,475       275,000  
Bethel (2)
    Howard, TX       7,100,000       3,000,000       10,100,000       600,000  
New York City (2)
    Bellvue, TX       5,650,000       2,083,025       7,733,025       120,000  
Lapan (2)
    Bellvue, TX       3,425,000       1,070,000       4,495,000       120,000  
Lake Dallas (2)
    Denton, TX       2,960,000       1,315,000       4,275,000       120,000  
East Diamond
    Hopkins County, KY       2,160,000       1,640,000       3,800,000       40,000  
Barnsley
    Hopkins County, KY       1,278,900       1,600,000       2,878,900       30,000  
Napoleonville (3)
    Assumption Parish, LA       438,583       300,973       739,556       56,000  
Crofton
    Christian County, KY       54,000       55,000       109,000       1,000  
                               
Total Pipeline and Storage Segment     43,059,958       16,723,998       59,783,956       1,362,000  
                         
Total     53,136,287       27,918,018       81,054,305       1,604,100  
                         
 
(1)   Cushion gas represents the volume of gas that must be retained in a facility to maintain reservoir pressure.
 
(2)   Acquired on October 1, 2004 in connection with the TXU Gas acquisition.
 
(3)   We own 25 percent of this facility and Acadian Gas Pipeline System owns the remaining 75 percent of this facility. Acadian Gas Pipeline System operates this facility.

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      Additionally, we contract for storage service in underground storage facilities on many of the interstate pipelines serving us to supplement our proprietary storage capacity. The following table summarizes our contracted storage capacity:
                     
            Maximum
        Maximum   Daily
        Storage   Withdrawal
        Quantity   Quantity
Division/ Company   Contractor   (MMBtu)   (MMBtu) (1)
             
Utility Segment
                   
Colorado-Kansas Division
  Southern Star Central Pipeline     2,719,101       82,397  
    Tenaska Marketing Ventures     1,000,000       10,400  
    Colorado Interstate Gas Company     422,142       12,985  
    Kinder Morgan, Inc.     67,500       1,500  
    Centerpoint Energy Gas Transmission     28,500       950  
 
Kentucky Division
  Texas Gas Transmission     3,841,150       41,060  
    Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company     1,313,538       22,698  
 
Louisiana Division
  Gulf South     1,941,280       97,064  
    Louisiana Intrastate Gas Company     600,000       60,000  
    Texas Gas Transmission     11,372       1,194  
    Southern Natural Gas Company     4,771       102  
    Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company     4,466       91  
 
Mid-States Division
  Atmos Energy Marketing     1,993,543       16,634  
    Southern Natural Gas Company     1,453,265       29,345  
    Panhandle Eastern Pipeline     972,462       15,241  
    Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company     835,674       20,000  
    Texas Eastern Transmission Company     753,969       11,303  
    Gallagher Drilling Company (2)     640,000       5,000  
    ANR Pipeline Company     630,500       11,218  
    Dominion     609,008       8,136  
    Transco     568,674       12,710  
    Virginia Gas Pipeline Company     380,000       23,000  
    East Tennessee     339,900       52,633  
    Natural Gas Pipeline Company     312,750       5,580  
    Texas Gas Transmission     239,576       5,108  
    CMS Trunkline Gas Company     220,455       2,940  
    MRT Energy Marketing     137,493       2,395  
 
Mississippi Division
  Gulf South     1,237,500       61,875  
    Southern Natural Gas Company     1,049,436       21,191  
    Texas Gas Transmission     826,390       36,420  
    Texas Eastern     518,220       8,637  
    Egan Storage     400,000       40,000  
    Trunkline Gas Company     24,840       331  
    Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company     3,394       113  
 
West Texas Division
  ONEOK Texas Gas Storage LLP     1,125,000       50,000  
                 
Total Utility Segment     27,225,869       770,251  
See footnotes on the following page.

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            Maximum
        Maximum   Daily
        Storage   Withdrawal
        Quantity   Quantity
Division/ Company   Contractor   (MMBtu)   (MMBtu) (1)
             
Natural Gas Marketing Segment
                   
Atmos Energy Marketing, LLC
                   
    Gulf South     5,992,015       85,686  
    Egan     1,500,000       90,000  
    Atmos Pipeline — Texas     1,000,000       24,000  
    Virginia Gas Pipeline Company     170,000       17,000  
                 
Total Natural Gas Marketing Segment     8,662,015       216,686  
 
Pipeline and Storage Segment
                   
Trans Louisiana Gas Pipeline, Inc. 
  Gulf South Pipeline Company     750,000       20,000  
    Bridgeline Gas Distribution LLC     300,000       30,000  
                 
Total Pipeline and Storage Segment     1,050,000       50,000  
             
Total Contracted Storage Capacity     36,937,884       1,036,937  
             
 
(1)   Maximum daily withdrawal quantity (MDWQ) amounts will fluctuate depending upon the season and the month. Unless otherwise noted, MDWQ amounts represent the MDWQ amounts as of November 1, which is the beginning of the winter heating season.
 
(2)   We contract for storage service in two underground storage facilities, Wiseman and Ellis, from this company.
Other facilities
      Our utility segment owns and operates one propane peak shaving plant with a total capacity of approximately 180,000 gallons that can produce an equivalent of approximately 3,300 Mcf daily.
Offices
      Our administrative offices are consolidated in a leased facility in Dallas, Texas. We also maintain field offices throughout our distribution system, the majority of which are located in leased facilities. Our nonutility operations are headquartered in Houston, Texas, with offices in Houston and other locations, primarily in leased facilities.
ITEM 3. Legal Proceedings
      See Note 13 to the consolidated financial statements.
ITEM 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
      No matters were submitted to a vote of security holders during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005.

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EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE REGISTRANT
      The following table sets forth certain information as of September 30, 2005, regarding the executive officers of the Company. It is followed by a brief description of the business experience of each executive officer.
                     
        Years of    
Name   Age   Service   Office Currently Held
             
Robert W. Best
    58       8     Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
John P. Reddy
    52       7     Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
R. Earl Fischer
    66       43     Senior Vice President, Utility Operations and President, Mid-Tex Division
JD Woodward III
    55       4     Senior Vice President, Nonutility Operations
Louis P. Gregory
    50       5     Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Wynn D. McGregor
    52       17     Vice President, Human Resources
      Robert W. Best was named Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer in March 1997. He previously served as Senior Vice President — Regulated Businesses of Consolidated Natural Gas Company (January 1996-March 1997) and was responsible for its transmission and distribution companies.
      John P. Reddy was named Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in September 2000. From April 2000 to September 2000, he was Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Mr. Reddy previously served the Company as Vice President, Corporate Development and Treasurer from December 1998 to March 2000. He joined the Company in August 1998 from Pacific Enterprises, a Los Angeles, California-based utility holding company whose principal subsidiary was Southern California Gas Co.
      R. Earl Fischer was named Senior Vice President, Utility Operations in May 2000 and President of the Mid-Tex Division in October 2004. Effective October 1, 2005, Mr. Fischer relinquished his duties as President of the Mid-Tex Division. Mr. Fischer previously served the Company as President of the Texas Division from January 1999 to April 2000 and as President of the Kentucky Division from February 1989 to December 1998.
      JD Woodward III was named Senior Vice President, Nonutility Operations in April 2001. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Woodward was President of Woodward Marketing, L.L.C. from January 1995 to March 2001. Effective April 1, 2006, Mr. Woodward will retire from the Company and be succeeded by Mark H. Johnson, Vice President, Nonutility Operations.
      Louis P. Gregory was named Senior Vice President and General Counsel in September 2000. Prior to joining the Company, he practiced law from April 1999 to August 2000 with the law firm of McManemin & Smith.
      Wynn D. McGregor was named Vice President, Human Resources in January 1994. He previously served the Company as Director of Human Resources from February 1991 to December 1993 and as Manager, Compensation and Employment from December 1987 to January 1991. Effective October 1, 2005, Mr. McGregor was named Senior Vice President, Human Resources.

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PART II
ITEM 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
      Our stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol “ATO.” The high and low sale prices and dividends paid per share of our common stock for fiscal 2005 and 2004 are listed below. The high and low prices listed are the closing NYSE quotes for shares of our common stock:
                                                   
    2005   2004
         
        Dividends       Dividends
    High   Low   Paid   High   Low   Paid
                         
Quarter ended:
                                               
 
December 31
  $ 27.43     $ 24.85     $ .310     $ 24.99     $ 24.15     $ .305  
 
March 31
    29.09       26.19       .310       26.86       24.32       .305  
 
June 30
    28.87       25.94       .310       26.05       23.68       .305  
 
September 30
    29.76       28.23       .310       25.86       24.61       .305  
                                     
                    $ 1.24                     $ 1.22  
                                     
      Dividend payments are payable at the discretion of our Board of Directors out of legally available funds and are also subject to restriction under the terms of our First Mortgage Bond agreements. See Note 6 to the consolidated financial statements. The Board of Directors typically declares dividends in the same fiscal quarter in which they are paid. The number of record holders of our common stock on October 31, 2005 was 26,170. Future payments of dividends, and the amounts of these dividends, will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and other factors. We sold no securities during fiscal 2005 that were not registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
      The following table sets forth the number of securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans at September 30, 2005.
                           
    Number of   Weighted-   Number of Securities
    Securities to be   Average Exercise   Remaining Available for
    Issued Upon   Price of   Future Issuance Under
    Exercise of   Outstanding   Equity Compensation
    Outstanding   Options,   Plans (Excluding
    Options, Warrants   Warrants and   Securities Reflected in
    and Rights   Rights   Column(a))
             
    (a)   (b)   (c)
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders:
                       
 
Long-Term Incentive Plan
    964,704     $ 22.20       1,290,292  
 
Long-Term Stock Plan for the Mid-States Division
    300       15.50       168,550  
                   
Total equity compensation plans approved by security holders
    965,004       22.20       1,458,842  
Equity compensation plans not
                       
 
approved by security holders
                 
                   
Total
    965,004     $ 22.20       1,458,842  
                   

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ITEM 6.      Selected Financial Data
      The following table sets forth selected financial data of the Company and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements included herein.
                                           
    Year Ended September 30
     
    2005 (1)   2004 (2)   2003 (3)   2002   2001 (4)
                     
    (In thousands, except per share data and ratios)
Results of Operations
                                       
Operating revenues
  $ 4,973,326     $ 2,920,037     $ 2,799,916     $ 1,650,964     $ 1,725,481  
Gross profit
    1,129,090       562,191       534,976       431,140       375,208  
Operating expenses
    780,435       368,496       347,136       275,809       244,927  
Operating income
    348,655       193,695       187,840       155,331       130,281  
Miscellaneous income (expense) (2)
    2,021       9,507       2,191       (1,321 )     6,188  
Interest charges
    132,658       65,437       63,660       59,174       47,011  
Income before income taxes and cumulative effect of accounting change
    218,018       137,765       126,371       94,836       89,458  
Cumulative effect of accounting change, net income tax benefit
                (7,773 )            
Income tax expense
    82,233       51,538       46,910       35,180       33,368  
Net income
  $ 135,785     $ 86,227     $ 71,688     $ 59,656     $ 56,090  
Weighted average diluted shares outstanding
    79,012       54,416       46,496       41,250       38,247  
Diluted net income per share
  $ 1.72     $ 1.58     $ 1.54     $ 1.45     $ 1.47  
Cash flows from operations
    386,944       270,734       49,541       297,395       82,995  
Cash dividends paid per share
  $ 1.24     $ 1.22     $ 1.20     $ 1.18     $ 1.16  
Total utility throughput (MMcf)
    411,134       246,033       247,965       208,541       217,774  
Total natural gas marketing sales volumes (MMcf)
    238,097       222,572       225,961       204,027       55,469  
Total pipeline transportation volumes (MMcf)
    375,604                          
Financial Condition
                                       
Net property, plant and equipment (5)
  $ 3,374,367     $ 1,722,521     $ 1,624,394     $ 1,380,070     $ 1,409,432  
Working capital (5)
    151,675       283,310       16,248       (139,150 )     (90,968 )
Total assets (5)(6)
    5,653,527       2,912,627       2,625,495       2,059,631       2,108,841  
Short-term debt, inclusive of current maturities of long-term debt
    148,073       5,908       127,940       167,771       221,942  
Capitalization:
                                       
 
Shareholders’ equity
    1,602,422       1,133,459       857,517       573,235       583,864  
 
Long-term debt (excluding current maturities)
    2,183,104       861,311       862,500       668,959       691,026  
                               
Total capitalization
    3,785,526       1,994,770       1,720,017       1,242,194       1,274,890  
Capital expenditures
    333,183       190,285       159,439       132,252       113,109  
Financial Ratios
                                       
Capitalization ratio (6)
    40.7%       56.7%       46.4%       40.7%       39.0%  
Return on average shareholders’ equity (7)
    9.0%       9.1%       9.9%       9.9%       10.4%  
See footnotes on the following page.

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(1)   Financial results for 2005 include the results of the Mid-Tex Division and Atmos Pipeline — Texas Division from October 1, 2004, the date of acquisition.
 
(2)   Financial results for 2004 include a $5.9 million pre-tax gain on the sale of our interest in U.S. Propane, L.P. and Heritage Propane Partners, L.P.
 
(3)   Financial results for fiscal 2003 include the results of MVG from December 3, 2002, the date of acquisition.
 
(4)   Financial results for fiscal 2001 include the results of Louisiana Gas Service Company from July 1, 2001 and Woodward Marketing L.L.C. from April 1, 2001, the date of each acquisition, and the equity earnings from our 45 percent investment in Woodward Marketing L.L.C. for the period October 1, 2001 through March 31, 2002.
 
(5)   Beginning in 2004, we reclassified our regulatory cost of removal obligation from accumulated depreciation to a liability. The amounts presented above for property, plant and equipment, working capital and total assets reflect this reclassification for all periods presented. These reclassifications did not impact our financial position, results of operations or cash flows as of and for the years ended September 30, 2003, 2002 and 2001.
 
(6)   The capitalization ratio is calculated by dividing shareholders’ equity by the sum of total capitalization and short-term debt, inclusive of current maturities of long-term debt. Beginning in 2004 we reclassified our original issue discount costs from deferred charges and other assets to long-term debt. This reclassification did not materially impact our capitalization or our capitalization ratio as of September 30, 2003, 2002 and 2001.
 
(7)   The return on average shareholders’ equity is calculated by dividing current year net income by the average of shareholders’ equity for the previous five quarters.
      The following table presents a condensed income statement by segment for the year ended September 30, 2005.
                                                     
    Year Ended September 30, 2005
     
        Natural Gas   Pipeline   Other    
    Utility   Marketing   and Storage   Nonutility   Eliminations   Consolidated
                         
    (In thousands)
Operating revenues from external parties
  $ 3,102,041     $ 1,783,926     $ 85,333     $ 2,026     $     $ 4,973,326  
Intersegment revenues
    1,099       322,352       79,409       3,276       (406,136 )      
                                     
      3,103,140       2,106,278       164,742       5,302       (406,136 )     4,973,326  
Purchased gas cost
    2,195,774       2,044,305       6,811             (402,654 )     3,844,236  
                                     
 
Gross profit
    907,366       61,973       157,931       5,302       (3,482 )     1,129,090  
Operating expenses
    671,001       20,988       87,645       4,484       (3,683 )     780,435  
                                     
Operating income
    236,365       40,985       70,286       818       201       348,655  
Miscellaneous income
    6,776       771       2,030       2,575       (10,131 )     2,021  
Interest charges
    112,382       3,405       24,579       2,222       (9,930 )     132,658  
                                     
Income before income taxes
    130,759       38,351       47,737       1,171             218,018  
Income tax expense
    49,642       14,947       17,138       506             82,233  
                                     
   
Net income
  $ 81,117     $ 23,404     $ 30,599     $ 665     $     $ 135,785  
                                     
Capital expenditures
  $ 300,574     $ 649     $ 31,960     $     $     $ 333,183  
                                     

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ITEM 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
INTRODUCTION
      This section provides management’s discussion of the financial condition, changes in financial condition and results of operations of Atmos Energy Corporation with specific information on results of operations and liquidity and capital resources. It includes management’s interpretation of our financial results, the factors affecting these results, the major factors expected to affect future operating results and future investment and financing plans. This discussion should be read in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements and notes thereto.
Cautionary Statement for the Purposes of the Safe Harbor under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
      The statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this Report are forward-looking statements made in good faith by the Company and are intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this Report, or any other of the Company’s documents or oral presentations, the words “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “estimate”, “forecast”, “goal”, “intend”, “objective”, “plan”, “projection”, “seek”, “strategy” or similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the statements relating to the Company’s strategy, operations, markets, services, rates, recovery of costs, availability of gas supply and other factors. These risks and uncertainties include the following: adverse weather conditions, such as warmer than normal weather in the Company’s utility service territories or colder than normal weather that could adversely affect our natural gas marketing activities; regulatory trends and decisions, including deregulation initiatives and the impact of rate proceedings before various state regulatory commissions; market risks beyond our control affecting our risk management activities including market liquidity, commodity price volatility and counterparty creditworthiness; national, regional and local economic conditions; the Company’s ability to continue to access the capital markets; the effects of inflation and changes in the availability and prices of natural gas, including the volatility of natural gas prices; increased competition from energy suppliers and alternative forms of energy; risks relating to the acquisition of the TXU Gas operations, including without limitation, the Company’s increased indebtedness resulting from the acquisition of the TXU Gas operations; the impact of recent natural disasters on our operations, especially Hurricane Katrina, and other uncertainties discussed herein, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Accordingly, while the Company believes these forward-looking statements to be reasonable, there can be no assurance that they will approximate actual experience or that the expectations derived from them will be realized. Further, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any of its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
FACTORS THAT MAY AFFECT OUR FUTURE PERFORMANCE
      Our performance in the future will primarily depend on the results of our utility and nonutility operations. Several factors exist that could influence our future financial performance, some of which are described below. They should be considered in connection with evaluating forward-looking statements contained in this report or otherwise made by or on behalf of us since these factors could cause actual results and conditions to differ materially from those set out in these forward-looking statements.
Our operations are weather sensitive.
      Weather is one of the most significant factors influencing our performance. Our natural gas utility sales volumes and related revenues are correlated with heating requirements that result from cold winter weather. Our agricultural sales volumes are associated with the rainfall levels during the growing season in our

30


West Texas and Kansas irrigation markets. Although weather normalized rates in effect in several of our jurisdictions should mitigate the adverse effects of warmer than normal weather on our utility operating results, approximately fifteen to twenty percent of our utility gross profit margin is sensitive to weather, particularly our Louisiana and Mid-Tex divisions. This means we will not be able to increase customers’ bills to offset lower gas usage when the weather is warmer than normal.
      Our Mid-Tex Division operations benefit from a rate structure that combines a monthly customer charge with a declining block rate schedule to partially mitigate the impact of warmer than normal weather on revenue. The combination of the monthly customer charge and the customer billing under the first block of the declining block rate schedule provides for the recovery of most of our fixed costs for such operations under most weather conditions. However, this rate structure is not as beneficial during periods where weather is significantly warmer than normal.
      Finally, sustained cold weather could adversely affect our natural gas marketing operations as we may be required to purchase gas at spot rates in a rising market to obtain sufficient volumes to fulfill some customer contracts.
We are subject to regulation which can directly impact our operations.
      Our natural gas utility business is subject to various regulated returns on its rate base in each of the 12 states in which we operate. We monitor the allowed rates of return, our effectiveness in earning such rates and initiate rate proceedings or operating changes as needed. In addition, in the normal course of the regulatory environment, assets are placed in service and historical test periods are established before rate cases can be filed. Once rate cases are filed, regulatory bodies have the authority to suspend implementation of the new rates while studying the cases. Because of this process, we must temporarily 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”. In addition, once our rates have been approved, they are still subject to challenge for their reasonableness by appropriate regulatory authorities. Also, our debt and equity financings are also subject to approval by regulatory bodies in certain states, which could limit our ability to take advantage of favorable short-term market conditions.
      Our business could also be affected by deregulation initiatives, including the development of unbundling initiatives in the natural gas industry. Unbundling is the separation of the provision and pricing of local distribution gas services into discrete components. It typically focuses on the separation of the distribution and gas supply components and the resulting opening of the regulated components of sales services to alternative unregulated suppliers of those services. Because of our enhanced technology and distribution system infrastructures, we believe that we are now positively positioned should unbundling evolve. Consequently, we expect there would be no significant adverse effect on our business should unbundling or further deregulation of the natural gas distribution service business occur.
      Finally, contractual limitations could adversely affect our ability to withdraw gas from storage, which could cause us to purchase gas at spot prices in a rising market to obtain sufficient volumes to fulfill customer contracts. We seek to minimize this risk by increasing our storage capacity and enhancing the flexibility of our natural gas marketing contracts.
Our operations are exposed to market risks that are beyond our control, which could result in financial losses.
      Our risk management operations in our natural gas marketing segment are subject to market risks beyond our control including market liquidity, commodity price volatility and counterparty creditworthiness. Market liquidity is affected by the number of trading partners in the market.
      Although we maintain a risk management policy, we may not be able to completely offset the price risk associated with volatile gas prices or the risk in our gas trading activities which could lead to financial losses. Physical trading also introduces price risk on any net open positions at the end of each trading day, as well as a risk of loss resulting from intra-day fluctuations of gas prices and the potential for daily price movements

31


between the time natural gas is purchased or sold for future delivery and the time the related purchase or sale is hedged. Although we manage our business to maintain no open positions, at times, limited net open positions related to our physical storage may occur on a short-term basis. The determination of our net open position as of any day requires us to make assumptions as to future circumstances, including the use of gas by our customers in relation to our anticipated storage and market positions. Because the price risk associated with any net open position at the end of each day may increase if the assumptions are not realized, we review these assumptions as part of our daily monitoring activities. Net open positions may result in an adverse impact on our financial condition or results of operations if market prices move in an unfavorable manner.
      Our utility segment uses a combination of storage and financial hedges to partially insulate us against volatility in gas prices and to help moderate the effects of higher customer accounts receivable caused by higher gas prices. Our natural gas marketing segment manages margins and limits risk exposure on the sale of natural gas inventory or the offsetting fixed-price purchase or sale commitments for physical quantities of natural gas through the use of a variety of financial derivatives.
      We could realize financial losses on these activities as a result of volatility in the market value of the underlying commodities or if a counterparty fails to perform under a contract.
      Further, the use of financial instruments to conduct our hedging and market risk activities subjects us to counterparty risk. Adverse changes in the creditworthiness of our counterparties could limit the level of trading activities with these parties and increase the risk that these parties may not perform under a contract. We believe this risk is mitigated due to the large number of counterparties used in our risk management activities.
      Our net periodic pension and other postretirement costs are subject to market risk as the fluctuation in the fair value of the assets used to fund our various benefit plans could lead to significant fluctuations in these costs.
      Finally, we are subject to interest rate risk on our commercial paper borrowings and floating rate debt. We could experience higher interest expense if interest rates increase or increased volatility if short-term interest rates become volatile.
National, regional and local economic conditions have a direct impact on our operations.
      Our operations are affected by the conditions and overall strength of the national, regional and local economies, including interest rates, changes in the capital markets and increases in the costs of our primary commodity, natural gas. These factors impact the amount of residential, industrial and commercial growth in our service territories. Additionally, these factors could adversely impact our customer collections.
      Further, AEM’s operations are concentrated in the natural gas industry, and its customers and suppliers may be subject to economic risks affecting that industry.
The execution of our business plan could be affected by an inability to access financial markets.
      We rely upon access to both short-term and long-term capital markets as a source of liquidity to satisfy our liquidity requirements. Although we believe we will maintain sufficient access to these financial markets, adverse changes in the economy, the overall health of the industries in which we operate and changes to our credit ratings could limit access to these markets and restrict the execution of our business plan.
      Our long-term debt is currently rated as “investment grade” by Standard & Poor’s Corporation (S&P), Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) and Fitch Ratings, Inc. (Fitch), the three credit rating agencies that rate our long-term debt securities. There can be no assurance that these rating agencies will maintain investment grade ratings for our long-term debt. If we were to lose our investment-grade rating, the commercial paper markets and the commodity derivatives markets could become unavailable to us. This would increase our borrowing costs for working capital and reduce the borrowing capacity of our gas marketing affiliate. In addition, if our commercial paper ratings were lowered, it would increase the cost of commercial paper financing and could reduce or eliminate our ability to access the commercial paper markets. If we are

32


unable to issue commercial paper, we intend to borrow under our bank credit facilities to meet our working capital needs. This would increase the cost of our working capital financing.
Inflation and increased gas costs could adversely impact our customer base and customer collections and increase our level of indebtedness.
      Inflation has caused increases in certain operating expenses and has required assets to be replaced at higher costs. We have a process in place to continually review the adequacy of our utility gas rates in relation to the increasing cost of providing service and the inherent regulatory lag in adjusting those gas rates. Historically, we have been able to budget and control operating expenses and investments within the amounts authorized to be collected in rates and intend to continue to do so. The ability to control expenses is an important factor that will influence future results.
      Rapid increases in the price of purchased gas, which has occurred recently and in some prior years, causes us to experience a significant increase in short-term debt because we must pay suppliers for gas when it is purchased, which can be significantly in advance of when these costs may be recovered through the collection of monthly customer bills for gas delivered. Increases in purchased gas costs also slow our utility collection efforts as customers are more likely to delay the payment of their gas bills, leading to higher than normal accounts receivable. This situation could result in higher short-term debt levels and increased bad debt expense. Due to the significant increase in natural gas prices resulting primarily from the impact of recent natural disasters, we are anticipating increases in our short-term debt, accounts receivable and bad debt expense during fiscal 2006.
      Finally, higher costs of natural gas in recent years have already caused many of our utility customers to conserve in the use of our gas services and could lead to even more customers utilizing such conservation methods.
Our operations are subject to increased competition.
      We are facing increased competition from other energy suppliers as well as electric companies and from energy marketing and trading companies. In the case of industrial customers, such as manufacturing plants, and agricultural customers, adverse economic conditions, including higher gas costs, could cause these customers to use alternative sources of energy, such as electricity, or bypass our systems in favor of special competitive contracts with lower per-unit costs. Our pipeline and storage operations currently face limited competition from other existing intrastate pipelines and gas marketers seeking to provide or arrange transportation, storage and other services for customers. However, competition may increase if new intrastate pipelines are constructed near our existing facilities.
We have only limited recourse under the acquisition agreement for losses relating to the TXU Gas acquisition.
      The diligence conducted in connection with the TXU Gas acquisition and the indemnification provided in the acquisition agreement may not be sufficient to protect us from, or compensate us for, all losses resulting from the acquisition or TXU Gas’s prior operations. For example, under the terms of the acquisition agreement, the first $15 million of many indemnifiable losses are to be borne by us, and the agreement provides for sharing of losses with respect to unknown environmental matters that may affect the assets we acquired after we have borne $10 million in costs relating to such matters. In addition, under the terms of the acquisition agreement, the maximum aggregate amount of such losses for which TXU Gas will indemnify us is approximately $192.5 million. A material loss associated with the TXU Gas acquisition for which there is not adequate indemnification could negatively affect our results of operations, our financial condition and our reputation in the industry, thereby reducing the anticipated benefits of the acquisition.
Recent natural disasters, especially Hurricane Katrina, have adversely impacted our operations.
      On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, inflicting significant damage in our eastern Louisiana operations. The hardest hit areas in our service area were in Jefferson, St. Tammany,

33


St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes. In total, approximately 230,000 of our natural gas customers were affected i