Help a newbie out re Natural Gas pricing

[Deleted]

I'm trying to set up all of the utilities accounts before closing (per agent's and attorney's requests) and I just realized that I never had to deal with a natural gas company before.  Don't ask, I know. 

Anyway, the one the seller uses has all of these different options for pricing.  Is it smart to use the generic, variable plan and then try to lock in later?  I had no idea this was supposed to be complicated.  

[mrs.jacinthe]

What state are you located in?

I ask, because every state handles NG pricing/regulation differently. Here in CA, we're pretty much tied to one provider and supplier, although their pricing is regulated. In OH, we had one provider, but we could pick any supplier we wanted. Pricing was *significantly* less regulated.

Generically speaking, if you are in a state with harsh winters, it is best to try to lock in a fixed-rate plan in ... say ... May, when NG prices are low. In the south, though, that might not make as much of a difference. I'd take a look at the public utilities commission for your state and try to see if they have an apples-to-apples type chart about suppliers (if that's an option).

I hope this makes sense.

[Deleted]

Oh, thanks for the rec about finding an apples to apples chart. We live in GA and the last time we paid for gas directly, it was in NY (a much more regulated area with only one option for service).

[mrs.jacinthe]

Here's the chart for GA (I'm presuming you may have found it already, but just in case): www.psc.state.ga.us/gas/marketerpricing/2013/05/default.asp

That page also has links to other information about choosing a supplier.

One more detail, you *may* want to check with your frequent flier or other point/rewards programs before you sign up. When I did natural gas in Texas, I got a mega-quantity of frequent flier points for signing up with a certain supplier versus the others (and there, it was a negligible bill, so it didn't really matter how much gas was.)

[Deleted]

Thank you, you beat me to it. I didn't even think about checking frequent flier or other rewards programs, genius! Hopefully one of ours offers a similar incentive.