Both the Toledo Free Press and Toledo Blade report some great news for those of us who use natural gas to heat our homes. Directly from the Columbia Gas of Ohio press release:
COLUMBUS, Ohio - As the winter heating season gets closer, Columbia Gas of Ohio residential customers are expected to pay considerably less than they did last year at this time.
The company today filed with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio an October Gas Cost Recovery (GCR) charge of 91 cents per Ccf (100 cubic feet), down 41 cents from the October 2005 GCR of $1.32.
As a result, the average residential bill is projected at $36.82, down $16.41 from the average October 2005 bill.
That doesn't mean that we should crank up the thermostats when we do have those colder days hit, it's always smart to be energy minded and as the press release also states:
"This is certainly good news for our customers as we move closer to the winter heating season," said Columbia Gas of Ohio President Jack Partridge. "Natural gas markets remain volatile and there is no guarantee that these prices will last through the winter, but we're off to a good start."
If you want to learn more about the various factors that are involved in your gas bill? A really great article from last February in the Toledo Free Press. Another Toledo Free Press article also written by Stacy Kess in January of 2006 covers some of the myths such as "Toledoans have the highest gas rates in Ohio". While I know all of us would love to pay lower utility bills, I also know that Columbia Gas got more "heat" than they deserved at times. (No, I don't get a discount on my bill for writing this, however I am open to negotiations - lol).
I'm also a big fan of the Apples to Apples website that the PUCO has. Especially their section on "Understanding Residential Natural Gas Prices".
I'd also point out that if you have kids, especially kids who like cats, Cozy's Corner is a cute place on the web that Columbia Gas of Ohio has created. Okay, I admit it, I had fun there too.
Part of the problem we can resolve as consumers by being as informed as possible as to what is on our gas bills and what the charges mean, we can also continue to conserve energy whenever possible. I remember some great advice by President Jimmy Carter that I know some people mock but it made sense at the time and still makes sense now. Put a sweater on and turn down the thermostat...Granted I reach for a hoodie sweatshirt rather than a sweater but we shouldn't have to face an energy crisis to be smart about conserving resources.
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5 comments:
no matter what the prices are still high, this winter I am going to use my new wood burning insert in my place and run it all the time. I figure it costs me about $1 a day to heat the garage with the wood furnace i made so I should be able to keep it moderatly cozy for about the same price and just set the furnace to about 60 incase I forget to tend the fire
Nate, that's perfectly understandable. We don't have a woodburner here so for us it's not an option.
:-)
$36.82? Man I wish my gas bills were that low. This past winter, we were paying $174 *each* (when there were only 3 of us at the time - CG said our combined incomes were too high for us to receive financial assistance, even though our bill was so high). In a 13 bedroom 3-story house with faulty windows, there's just no saving it. Unfortunately, there's no release for us because of the University's housing situation. If we could have more than 3 unrelated individuals living in an almost affordable home when we are trying to start a "house" for our co-ed fraternity, we could have had our choice of a number of nice, large homes right by campus. Because of corruption, we don't have a proper landlord willing to make improvements on the house more than what is necessary for basic survival. The list goes on. Toledo, Ohio is surely a great place for young people to live.
I hear ya Emily, last year I ran the furnace in the house (1500 sq ft) and the one in the shop/garage about 25x25' and it was around $425 a month, the house alone is $300 a mont average
Years ago, we replaced our windows and blew in 13+" of cellulose in the upstairs crawl.
We also have a 90+% gas furnace. Ours crept up over $ 150/month a couple of times last year, for 1,500 sq. ft.
I'm about ready to get even better windows and an even more efficient furnace, amybe next year.
The high-tech stuff works wonders.
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