Have you shopped for a lower natural gas rate lately? What I’m talking about is price shopping for the best natural gas rate just as you would when you need to fill your car with fuel. Natural gas prices are low but you may find that you can buy natural gas for even less than what you are paying for it right now. It’s possible you can lower your gas bill by 50%!
To accurately know what you are looking for you must first understand a few terms. MCF is an abbreviation for a standard measure of gas or 1000 cubic feet. This is how customers in Dominion Gas territory are charged. Customers in Columbia Gas territory are charged per CCF which is an abbreviation for a standard measure of gas or 100 cubic feet. If you are reading this paper you are most likely in one or the other of these gas suppliers.
Now take out your gas bill and divide the total cost due by the total MCF of CCF used on your bill.
Example: For a Dominion bill of $308.87 divided by 32.4 MCF=$9.53 per MCF.
Example for a Columbia bill: $308.87 divided by 324 CCF=$.953 per CCF.
Now that you know what you are paying per MCF or CCF you can go to a website that compares all available gas rates to each other. The site is http://www.puco.ohio.gov/PUCO/ApplesToApples/index.cfm Once you are at this page, click “compare natural gas offers”, then “residential”, then on either Dominion Energy Ohio or Columbia gas depending on who your supplier is. The next page has all the current gas rates available in your territory. Compare these prices to the price you calculated above. Notice you can chose either a fixed or a variable rate and these are priced accordingly. You will also find the phone number or website on this page where you can easily sign up for the plan you choose. Be sure to review any Terms and or Early Termination Fees before you sign up. You may find what you are paying now and what is available could save you lots of money on your bills.
Sound too confusing? Call me, or better yet, visit me with your gas bill in hand and I will be happy to help you figure it out.