TAOS, N.M. - More than 24,000 New Mexico residents who lost natural gas service during frigid weather should have warm homes this weekend, Gov. Susana Martinez said Friday.

Crews from New Mexico Gas Co., bolstered by 400 volunteers from as far away as Michigan, will have most furnaces and

water heaters reignited by today, she said.

A company spokesman said service was restored Friday in Silver City. Martinez said Alamogordo also was to have natural gas service before day's end.

She appeared at a news conference in Taos, one of the towns hardest hit by the outage. On this day, sunshine baked the town, and kids on bicycles wore T-shirts.

Residents remained on edge, though, pressing for answers about what went wrong during the cold snap a day earlier.

Martinez said a convergence of bad weather in Texas and New Mexico severed natural gas service in many places, even though supplies seemed to be adequate.

Bitter cold in Texas caused a spike in electricity use, and that ended up causing the problems in sections of New Mexico, she said.

Everybody is on the same power grid. When electrical use surged, compressor stations could not carry natural gas to New Mexico customers, Martinez said.

Asked about backup systems that might have failed, Martinez said now was not the time to cast blame. Her priority, she said, was getting service restored.

Annette Gardiner, president of New Mexico Gas Co., appeared with the governor.

Gardiner said a combination of company

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employees and trained volunteers, such as firefighters or utility workers from other states, would work during the weekend to get homes warm again. Two shifts will run 12 hours each to expedite service, she said.

Martinez credited Taos Mayor Darren Cordova with the idea to mobilize qualified volunteers to help New Mexico Gas Co. better serve customers in a time of trouble.

Gardiner said shutting off gas lines can be done without any assistance from consumers. But to restore service, somebody must be home for the company representatives to relight furnaces and heaters.

Martinez said neighbors had helped neighbors get through a difficult day.

Even though tens of thousands were without natural gas service, only 27 people went to emergency shelters Thursday night, Martinez said. This was a good indication that families and friends looked out for one another, she said.

In addition to Alamogordo and Silver City, she said, La Luz, Tularosa, Red River and Questa would have service restored Friday.

Work was beginning in Bernalillo, Placitas, Taos and Espa-ola. Those places should be back to normal today, but work would continue into Sunday if necessary, Martinez said.

Emergency shelters across the state will remain open to people whose homes are too cold to inhabit.

One snag may leave some people in the cold, even when crews are on hand to restore service.

Martinez said people whose furnaces and heaters do not pass inspection when a gas meter is being turned on would have to find a licensed plumber or contractor to fix the problem.

The governor said she ordered that the cost of permits would be waived for work done by licensed contractors on these homes. Once workers say the appliances are safe, the gas company will restore service to those homes.

As for what went wrong, state politicians will examine that question on Monday in Santa Fe. The House Energy and Natural Resources Committee has scheduled a morning hearing to question New Mexico Gas Co. executives and members of the state Public Regulation Commission about the outages.

Santa Fe Bureau Chief Milan Simonich may be reached at msimonich@tnmnp.com or 505-820-6898. His blog is at http://elpasotimes.typepad.com/newmexico