Most natural gas providers are now deregulated, but what exactly does deregulated mean?
Deregulation signifies that there are fewer restrictions imposed on certain activities. What effects does deregulation hold for you as a consumer, and why it is in a personal financial advice section?
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Most natural gas providers are now deregulated, but what exactly does deregulated mean?
Deregulation signifies that there are fewer restrictions imposed on certain activities. What effects does deregulation hold for you as a consumer, and why it is in a personal financial advice section?
Since the natural gas industry is mostly deregulated now, you have the option to choose your natural gas supplier for your residential and/or business property. Most of the readers have Dominion as a distribution provider, but have a range of different companies as the actual natural gas provider. On the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) website, you can read about deregulation, natural gas providers and the price points for other natural gas providers (along with methods of how to switch).
How much can you save if you switch natural gas providers, and what do you have to do to switch?
I just recently went through this process during the winter when I noticed my family’s energy bill was obviously going up due to the increase in heat in the home. I also caught sight of the price per MCF (measure of natural gas usage) that we were being charged – around the $7.30 range. We were using 23 MCF’s for consecutive months heading into winter. If you do the math, that is $167.90 for the natural gas alone, and $178.81 after taking sales tax into consideration. This doesn’t even include the charge that would be incurred for the distribution.
I therefore did a natural gas hunt on the PUCO website (noted above) to choose a different provider. I located a provider for a fixed rate of $5.99 for 12 months and switched right away to that source. Based on the 23 MCF’s that were used previously, a $5.99 rate would bring our bill, after sales tax, to a total of $146.73. That is over $30 cheaper from the month before, and there was not a single difference in service.
Winter here in Ohio can last five months, so if you are using a lot of natural gas for heat, it could save you tremendously to shop around for a cheaper rate. It was extremely easy to switch as well; all I had to do was fill out a form online and submit it electronically, which took only a few minutes.
This is one item worth looking into to help lower a utility payment and place extra money in your pocket for savings, investments or another use. I recommend checking your natural gas website to see the options that are available to you.
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