Reading your gas bill, particularly during a long Michigan winter, may not be the highlight of your month. In addition to the seasonal hit on your household budget, there are lots of facts and figures that may not make the most interesting reading. However, that information is there for a purpose. In some cases, knowing what it all means may even help you to conserve and reduce the Amount Due on the bottom line of future bills. Here are a few things to focus on when reading your gas bill:
BTUs: It stands for British Thermal Unit and it’s one of the ways your utility measures your gas consumption. One cubic foot of natural gas generates a maximum of 1,028 BTUs of heat energy. Your gas bill may also express BTU consumption in Therms: One therm = 100,000 BTUs.
Commodity Charge: Did you know that most gas utilities are prohibited by law from selling gas at a profit? They must supply gas at the same price they paid for it and make their profit from associated fees and service charges. The commodity charge is the actual gross cost of gas the utility paid the supplier, minus other related charges.
Baseline Allowance: Residential consumers are granted a certain allowance of gas for basic needs, charged at the lowest available rate. If gas consumption exceeds that amount, the rate increases accordingly. You can tie your heating costs to the lowest rates by conserving gas and keeping consumption within the baseline allowance.
Gas Cost Adjustment: Due to frequent swings in wholesale natural gas prices, your utility must make adjustments for both present and anticipated fluctuations. If future costs are projected to either exceed or be lower than the amount the utility presently collects, this variation is reconciled by an additional charge or a credit on the gas cost adjustment line of your bill.
Serving metro Detroit for over 65 years, Aladdin Heating & Cooling is committed to providing effective, efficient home comfort for area residents. If reading your gas bill gives you sticker shock, let us suggest more ways to reduce that bottom line.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about Reading Your Gas Bill and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Aladdin Heating services Novi, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Southfield, Oak Park, Ferndale, Beverly Hills, Berkley, Royal Oak, Birmingham, Bloomfield Twp., Bloomfield Hills, West Bloomfield, Madison Heights, Clawson, Sterling Heights, Warren, Troy, St. Clair Shores, Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe Woods, Grosse Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe Park, Detroit, Utica, Shelby Twp., Rochester, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Lake Orion, Oxford, and Clarkston.
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