Gas and Electricity Suppliers A-Z

When it comes to paying for services from gas and electricity suppliers, you may or may not have a choice. In some states, only one major company may have a monopoly over a certain geographic area, forcing you to obtain service from the company. However, as more states and areas are moving toward deregulation of the gas and electric industries, you'll find that you'll have more choice among competitors in the area if you do not have this already. When it's time to select gas and electricity suppliers for your home, you want to be certain that you're receiving service from a quality company in all areas.

Review Company Offers

Gas and electricity suppliers may call you, send you brochures or advertisements in the mail or even send representatives out to your home to get you to switch. Oftentimes the peak season for these types of marketing activities is either before or during the colder months of the year as this is when your gas and electricity rates increase.

When communicating with one of the gas and electricity suppliers' representatives or reviewing marketing materials from the company, you want to look at the offers closely. Some companies offer substantial discounts for the first few months and then some offers look great on the outside, but don't help you in the long run. For example, the company may offer you a 30% discount on rates for the first two or even six months, but then automatically switch you to a variable rate, which could be much higher.

In addition, electricity and gas suppliers might advertise that you'll receive a "savings of 40%," but this is not representative of the entire offer. The "savings of 40%" offer may or may not be a decent one. For instance, offering a discount based on the "Gas Cost Recovery" rates is not that generous as these GCR rates don't include costs for transportation and service. Overall, look closely at the terms and conditions of the offer to make sure that it's a legitimate one that could offer you substantial savings.

Compare Base Rates

Perhaps the most important thing to look for when choosing your gas and electricity suppliers are the fuel's base rate. For gas companies, you need to look at the CCF rate, or the cost per each hundred cubic feet. Depending on the area of the country in which you're located, this rate can often be a low as 0.030 per CCF to as high as 0.90 per CCF or greater. Selecting a gas supplier that offers the lowest CCF rate is important, and you should also make sure that it will stay a "fixed" rate and not switch over to a "variable" rate after a certain length of time of being a new customer to the company. When choosing an electricity supplier, you must look at the total price per kilowatt hour (kWh).

With any of the gas and electricity suppliers, it's also important to ask other questions about billing and service. For example, you should ask if you must pay any deposits before being able to acquire service. You should also find out the length of the contract for which the gas or electricity rates is good for. Other important questions that you may want to ask include questions about budget billing and payment arrangements if you're sick or laid off work.

As you can see, there are several issues to consider if you're looking to switch to new gas and electricity suppliers. Whether you want a company that offers the lowest rate or one that offers great customer service, you need to look at each company carefully to select the right one for you, your household and budget.

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