Columbia Gas introduces new gas commodity price
3/30/2010 10:00:35 AM
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Columbia Gas of Ohio is introducing a new natural gas commodity pricing mechanism for its customers who purchase gas directly from the company, beginning with the April billing cycle.
The Standard Service Offer (SSO) price replaces the Gas Cost Recovery (GCR) charge for customers who have not selected an alternative supplier through Columbia’s Customer CHOICE® Program.
The April SSO price of $0.5772 per 100 cubic feet (Ccf) will be in effect from March 30 through April 28, 2010. Based on this price, the typical residential customer using 88 Ccf of natural gas would see a total April bill of about $79. The total bill includes Columbia Gas delivery charges and taxes.
Columbia’s SSO price will be adjusted each month to reflect natural gas market prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Just like the GCR price, the SSO price represents Columbia’s actual cost of acquiring natural gas. By law, this cost is passed along to Columbia’s retail customers on a dollar-for-dollar basis, at zero profit to Columbia. Monthly SSO price information will be available at ColumbiaGasOhio.com at How the SSO Price is Determined.
Columbia’s direct sales customers will not have to take any action as a result of this change. Customers paying the GCR charge will automatically become SSO customers.
“Columbia Gas of Ohio is still in the gas supply business,” said Columbia Gas of Ohio President Jack Partridge. “All of the gas supply options which existed before will remain in place, including the option of buying gas directly from Columbia.”
Columbia Gas of Ohio will continue to maintain its pipeline system, respond to emergencies, answer customer calls, offer payment plans, read meters and send bills to all customers, regardless of their gas supplier.
Customers who have chosen an alternative supplier through the CHOICE® program, or who participate in their community’s natural gas aggregation program, will continue to pay the price offered by their current supplier. CHOICE® customers may choose to return to Columbia’s SSO rate at any time, but should review their supplier contract for any cancellation fees. SSO customers will have the option to switch to a CHOICE® supplier at any time.
Under the SSO system, Columbia will buy natural gas from suppliers selected through an annual wholesale gas supply auction. The first auction was held Feb. 23, and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) approved the results on Feb. 24. The auction resulted in a Retail Price Adjustment of $1.93 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), or $0.193 per Ccf, which will be added to the NYMEX monthly settlement price to determine the SSO. The May SSO price will be set on April 28.
Columbia Gas of Ohio, with headquarters in Columbus, is one of the nine energy distribution companies of NiSource Inc. (NYSE: NI). Serving approximately 1.4 million customers in 61 of Ohio’s 88 counties, it is the largest natural gas utility in the state. NiSource distribution companies serve approximately 3.8 million gas and electric customers primarily in seven states.
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