Atmos Energy Cooks(TM) to Showcase Chef from Morgan Freeman's Mississippi Restaurant.

Madidi Chef Shares Recipes from Acclaimed Mississippi Delta Restaurant

DALLAS -- Atmos Energy Cooks[TM], a cooking Web site of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE: ATO), will showcase two recipes from Lee Craven, the executive chef at Madidi Restaurant in Clarksdale, Mississippi, a fine-dining restaurant situated in the heart of the Mississippi Delta and owned by actor Morgan Freeman and local businessman Bill Luckett.

The Web site at www.atmosenergycooks.com features favorite recipes from restaurants and chefs in Atmos Energy's 12-state service area as well as a wide selection of other dishes.

Chef Craven has been the executive chef at Madidi since 2003 and has been featured in numerous magazines, including Bon Appetit, Delta Magazine, MYSouth and Southern Living. In 2004, he was named a "Rising Star of American Cuisine" by the James Beard Foundation.

Chef Craven has described the food served at the restaurant as being "prepared by weaving the ingredients, history and soul of the South with slight refinements in elegance." His recipes for "Crispy Sea Bass with Cauliflower Hash and Roasted Pumpkin Sauce" and "Grand Marnier Cr[c]me Brulee" on the site reflect his culinary vision and expertise.

The Atmos Energy Cooks site has been developed by Atmos Energy as an "easy-to-use resource for recipes, cooking tips and appliance information," said Robert W. Best, Atmos Energy's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Because of the increasing popularity of cooking and the renewed interest Americans have in preparing and sharing wholesome food with their families, we decided develop this site."

In past decades, Atmos Energy and its predecessor companies offered information about cooking with natural gas and operated showroom kitchens where home economists would conduct cooking classes and demonstrations. "This site restores a long tradition, but with a modern online twist," Best said.

Recipes are presented with step-by-step preparation instructions along with a nutritional information chart and a suggested shopping list. Site visitors also can rate the recipes, e-mail them to a friend or print them with the shopping list.

Besides recipes, the site contains detailed cooking information, including sections about:

* Kitchen techniques, which explain grilling, broiling, sauteing, stir-frying, roasting and braising.

* Cooking tips, such as information about kitchen skills, common cooking terms, basic ingredients, herbs and spices, kitchen utensils, knives and food safety.

* Cooking with natural gas, which explains why natural gas is the ideal energy source for cooking, provides information about outdoor rooms and kitchens and offers guidance for buying a gas grill, cooktop, stove or oven, along with tips for keeping them clean.

About Atmos Energy

Atmos Energy Corporation, headquartered in Dallas, is the country's largest natural-gas-only distributor, serving about 3.2 million natural gas distribution customers. Atmos Energy's distribution operations serve more than 1,600 communities in 12 states from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the East to the Rocky Mountains in the West. Atmos Energy also provides natural gas marketing and procurement services to industrial, commercial and municipal customers in 22 states and manages company-owned natural gas storage and pipeline assets, including one of the largest intrastate natural gas pipelines in Texas. Atmos Energy is a Fortune 500 company. For more information, visit www.atmosenergy.com.

Note to editors: Natural gas has been closely associated with cooking in the public's mind for decades. Starting in the mid-1930s, natural gas utilities launched consumer and school programs to promote natural gas appliances--especially for kitchens. With the housing boom after World War II, many gas utilities set up Flame Rooms in company auditoriums to host cooking shows that displayed the latest in gas appliances for Blue Star Homes. Some gas utilities also sponsored local cooking shows in the early days of television. In recent years, gas appliances have been in great demand for larger home kitchens and for popular outdoor rooms. A selection of historic photos and art, screen captures of the new Atmos Energy Cooks site and photos of Lee Craven and his recipes are available to help illustrate this story at http://www.atmosenergy.com/news/media_downloads.html.