Columbia Gas Ohio Rates Surge 35%

Columbia Gas Ohio Rates Surge 35%

Bitter January Cold Drives February Gas Bills Higher

Columbus, Ohio - As Columbus natural gas rates spike this February, with Columbia Gas Ohio hiking default supply rates 35% on February 1. OHEnergyRatings.com is warning all residential Columbia Gas customers that bills could burn through their bank accounts!

The extreme cold at the end of January sent natural gas commodity prices surging up. On February 1, Columbia Gas Ohio hiked their default supply rates by 35%.

Why Ohio Natural Gas Prices Spiked

As most homeowners know from their past heating bills, their natural gas demand is highest during the cold months of January and February. But demand has risen further this year due to LNG exports and the energy need from data centers. When Winter Storm Fern brought an Arctic blast into Ohio, demand for heat and power soared. And by January 28, natural gas commodity prices were flying high as well:

• The natural gas spot market average price shot to $9.03 per mmBTU.
• Gas markets in New York and New England spiked even higher, rising to more than $40.
• The February NYMEX natural gas contract price finalized at $7.460 per mmBTU, nearly twice as high as January.

And because the price to compare is a pass through price for the natural gas, all four of Ohio's major gas utilities will be passing this high cost onto their Price to Compare customers. As a result, Columbia Gas PTC customers will pay a rate of $1.071 per ccf.

This means a PTC customer using 100 ccf per month will pay $107.10 in supply charges to Columbia Gas. Delivery charges and taxes could add a further $125, making their total bill amount to more than $230. Some households in Columbus and elsewhere will likely pay even more.

What Columbia Gas Utility Customers Can Do

For this reason, OHEnergyRatings.com urges all residential natural gas customers to RUN, DO NOT WALK, from the Columbia Gas Ohio's Price to Compare service and to lock in a fixed rate plan with a certified natural gas provider. When customers shop providers and compare gas rates apples to apples, they could find substantially cheaper rates than those offered by their local natural gas utility.

By shopping for fixed rate plans now, Ohio natural gas consumers can lock in the best natural gas prices for 6 months or even longer. Right now, Columbia Gas Ohio customers can find fixed rates 40% less than the utility's soaring $1.071 per ccf PTC rate!

Not only does this help them avoid price spikes from other storms this winter but also gas price shocks that may happen later this year from LNG exports and data centers.

About OHEnergyRatings.com

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