tonight we've learned the state public regulation commission has now launched an investigation into the new mexico gas company after the natural gas outage. people are still outraged after thousands of new mexicans went without heat for almost a week. we are committed to bringing you the latest information on this big story. late this afternoon -- we talked to new mexico's attorney general for the first time about an investigation -- he says his office is looking at every way it can to help out new mexicans. "to the extent that we have jurisdiction we're gonna try to keep help people but what i think people need to realize is they are gonna have individuaul causes of action and those would be outside the purview of the ag's office. gary king also says his office will be keeping a close eye on the next rate hike proposal from new mexico gas - to make sure it's not trying to pass of costs from its negligence to you. tonight we have live team coverage as we follow the aftermath of the massive natural gas outage. state lawmakers want answers from the new mexico gas company - and they want them fast - as in tomorrow. that's when the entire senate will hold a hearing on the deep-freeze heat failure. stuart dyson begins our team coverage at the capitol in santa fe. " what went wrong - and how do we avoid a repeat - those are the two big questions lawmakers will have for new mexico gas company officials and state regulators tomorrow - but they aren't the only ones." lawmakers want to know why it took so long to restore service for thousands of new mexicans shivering through the worst cold snap in forty years - and when cutoffs became necessary why did the company choose northern new mexico - senators want to know more about the complex pipeline system and its capacity and how to improve it. " some of that information will obviously surface but it's obviously a long term problem and the fix on it is gonna cost some dollars - and it will not be free." many - but not all - of the senate democrats think the industry needs more oversight - many republicans disagree - saying over-regulation contributed to the problem. " it's largely because we're not drilling wells - we're not re-fixing old wells that need to be repaired - because of pit rules and all of those kinds of regulations - the greenhouse has thing just compounds that if it all goes into effect - all of this stuff kind of feeds together." gas company officials blame the problem on gas suppliers in west texas - whose pipelines went dry during electric power blackouts - no compressors - no gas - some lawmakers say nothing they do can change things in texas. " the hearing is set to start at 12:30 tomorrow afternoon in the senate chambers - senators do want to hear from some of the thousands who lost their heat just when they needed it the most - at the capitol stuart dyson k-o-b eyewitness news four." in the last hour, we learned representative bobby gonzales from taos is introducing a bill to create a task force to look into the gas outage. the task force would also look at how state and local governments handled the emergency. starting tomorrow, fema teams will begin looking at the damage caused by last week's winter storm. new mexicans may be able to get federal money-- for expenses from the winter storm. if your home had any damage -- take pictures and keep receipts for things like repairs and hotels. "whether you are insured uninsured there could be the possibility of getting some financial assistance from fema if the declaration comes down. fema teams will start preliminary assessments here in albuquerque. it could take weeks toomplete the investigation. all findings will be turned over to governor susana martinez. if there is two- and-a half million dollars worth of damage -- she will send the request to president obama. if the president were to approve that declaration -- fema teams would come back out here, and you'd need to show them those pictures and receipts to get some help. live from the newsroom cristina rodda kob eyewitness news four
