This advice is based on my experience working for a gas supplier in Michigan, not sure how it affects other states, but feel free to use this advice as a springboard for some research! :)
You know those shady people your grandma used to tell you about, the ones who troll the neighborhood pretending to be from the gas company, knock on your door, and ask to see a gas bill?
Yes, I used to be one of those people. No, we were not pretending to be from the gas company; rather, we were representatives from a specific gas supplier trying to recruit customers.
When you get your gas bill straight from the gas company, your CCF cost– the cost for one unit of gas– is actually a median cost averaged from multiple gas suppliers (when I worked in the industry it was the average of about 21 or 22 suppliers).
Our job was to go around offering a lower rate than the average to try to persuade you to sign up to receive gas from us and ONLY us. Sort of a "you scratch our back, we'll scratch yours" deal.
Shop around online or call your gas company and ask for the current rates of your state's suppliers. Some suppliers will be cheaper than the average, and some may be more expensive. You should be able to simply call the gas supplier of your choice to lock in the best rate. But 3 things to keep in mind:
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Double check that there are NO cancellation fees. A reputable company should not charge you anything extraneous.
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Make sure your introductory rate is locked in for 12 months.
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Confirm that if the cost of gas drops, you'll be able to call in and be dropped to the new lower rate (you do need to stay on top of this and take it upon yourself to call whenever it goes lower).
You'll want to look at the line on your bill that says something along the lines of "Gas/Electric Cost Recovery." This is the rate that should drop.
Summer is usually a good time to lock in a gas rate because people are using it less and so it is cheaper (the cost of gas spikes way up in the winter).
I hope this helps! It's been a few years since I've worked in the system but I'll try to answer any other questions to the best of my ability. And if anyone has any stories or further advice, please feel free to share. :)
June 13, 2017 at 09:29AM
