If you live in Texas or planning to move to Texas, then among numerous other things you should know about the place, you have to sign up with a local utility company to provide you natural gas. Since the deregulation of natural gas services by the state, various large and small natural gas companies are actively providing natural gas delivery services around the state.
If you are new around the place and settling down, it should be a priority that you sign up for natural gas with a local utility company. You can choose from a dozen of them, compare prices, and make cuts and adjustments in usage as you like. This guide will provide you with all the information about buying natural gas in Texas – such as the main points you should consider before choosing a utility company.
Finding the Best Natural Gas Supplier
The best part of doing all this is that your search for everything is just a click away. You can Texas’ public services commission website and search for a complete list of local gas providers. This list varies from state to state, but Texas also has a big list of gas-providing companies. The actual work starts after you get the list. Consider the following options for narrowing your choice down to the one that suits and meets your needs.
Unit Price
The most important aspect to consider when going for a local utility provider is considering the unit price they are offering. While the choice is in your hand, you have an advantage over settling for the rates that suit you the best. Look and compare how much the competing companies are offering. The standard unit of price for natural gas is therm or CCF.
If you are looking for ways to curb your heating bill, then go for the one you find the cheapest for you, and then you can go on to observing the actual energy usage of your home.
Types of Plan
Various service providers offer different kinds of payment plans for their services. Therefore, it is very crucial to choose a plan that goes well with your finances. Following are some of the types of plans that most of the utility service providers offer:
Fixed-Rate Plans
This is by far the safest one for middle-class families. With this plan, the company enters a contract with you wherein they bind you for availing their services for a decided amount of time while they offer you a fixed rate. Such a contract protects you from price changes of the natural gas as you keep getting it at the amount you fixed while signing the contract.
This is the biggest upside of this type of plan. However, the main thing to consider here is the length of the contract.
Variable-Rate Plan
This is a type of contract-free plan. You get to sign up with a utility service provider and finalize the rate at the current price of natural gas in the market. The next month, the rate might vary depending on the market price of natural gas. The downside of this type of plan is that you are always clueless about what the next month’s economic conditions might do to your gas rates and bill. If the prices fall, you can save money, but if they spike, you are in for an expensive month.
Nevertheless, a variable-rate plan makes it possible for you to switch to another company without having to worry about your contract.
Features Offered
Often, the companies offering the provision of this utility service offer a lot of perks, such as rebates and loyalty programs. These additional offers make a huge difference in the rate plans. You can go to a company that offers loyalty programs for lengthy contracts.
Also, some companies offer bonus price deductions for referring the service providers to others.
Company Type
You will find two types of companies providing service for natural gas: default utility and competitive suppliers. The former type is the one that is mostly regulated by the local utility. Market influence on prices is lesser in these companies as their rates are more regulated. If you choose the latter, you can find that the rates are more susceptible to competitive market prices.
Signing Up With the Company
Once you are done searching for companies around your area, reviewing their rates, and checking out their additional offers, you are halfway through the process of finalizing your utility service provider. The next step is to sign up with the provider and open an account with them. This is essential as they have to get all the information about your identity, including your birth date, address, social security number, and driver’s license information.
Following this crucial step makes you a verified customer with the local utility and eligible for choosing the company you prefer. The process is very clear and easy as you can do it all online without the hassle of visiting the offices.
Important Point to Note
The process of registering as a customer and signing up with a service provider is very easy. However, you must check the contract thoroughly. Breaching a contract can result in a penalty that you are not going to like paying. Different contracts have various clauses about a penalty or cancellation fee.
You must go through the contract thoroughly and know all the clauses to know everything offered to you. We usually skip the section of terms and conditions, but it might contain imperative information about switching companies.
Finding Natural Gas in Texas is Easy
One advantage of the deregulation of local gas providers by the state is that you can control your gas expenses to a large extent. You can search for various companies, compare their rates, and get the best rates according to your budget and needs. It is important to choose wisely the plan that suits you and your household expenses.
