What’s Making Your Atlanta Natural Gas So Expensive?
Surprised at how much you’re spending on natural gas? Unexpected costs can easily drive up your monthly energy bill when you least expect it. Keep prices under control with these top tips for cheap natural gas in Atlanta.
Variable Natural Gas Rate
If you signed up to a variable rate natural gas deal then as the market demand for natural gas increases, your provider will have to increase the rate you pay. Residential usage of natural gas spikes during winter, which means that variable-rate prices usually increase significantly during the colder months. In fact, you can almost always save money by picking up a fixed-rate deal, even if you don’t want a long-term contract. Take a look at a few short term natural gas deals in Georgia to see how much you could save.
Monthly Charge Fees
Natural gas providers charge a monthly fee for providing service to your property. Service fees from your natural gas provider can be quite expensive, depending on the company. Companies such as XOOM Energy offer rates as low as $5.85 per month, but many fixed-rate deals come in a few dollars higher. Of course, if you get a cheap deal on natural gas it can be worth paying a couple of bucks more per month in fees, but it all adds up.
AGL Pass Through Charges
AGL charges cover the cost of delivering gas to your home or business. Recurring charges such the Customer charge, the Social Responsibility Charge, Ancillary (or Meter Reading) Charge are a flat rate no matter how much natural gas you use. However, households that consume a lot of natural gas bear a higher proportion of the costs needed to maintain the pipelines, meters, safety features and other infrastructure of the natural gas network.
The Dedicated Design Day Capacity Charge (DDDC) is a portion of your natural gas bill that covers the common costs of delivering gas based upon a your home’s demand on the system on the coldest day of the year.
AGL uses the DDDC recalculation to charge marketers for the capacity (or pipeline space) of the gas that their customers use. The reason for the charge is to share the costs of meeting demand throughout the gas pipe network on the coldest day of the year. That includes pumping extra natural gas into the network to balance the system pressure so that everyone can get enough gas to heat their home during peak demand.
The DDDC is recalculated every year and is usually applied in September. If you installed a gas-powered pool heater this year, and you find your AGL charges increasing in September, this might be the reason why. AGL fees are necessary for ensuring that natural gas in Georgia is safe and reliable. There isn’t much you can do to cut down on these costs, but you need to be aware of them to budget properly. There are, however, some areas where you can easily cut costs.
Keep Your Natural Gas Costs Under Control
If your energy costs are creeping up, remember that we make it easy to shop lots of cheap natural gas deals in Georgia, and we make it easy to pick up a discount. Compare prices on natural gas in Atlanta and switch to a new provider in just a few minutes. In fact, you can even do all this right from your smartphone. Simply download our app for Android and iOS devices now to start saving: https://www.georgiagassavings.com/apps/ga