BLACK HILLS CORPORATION Enrollment starts Aug. 18
LINCOLN, Neb., Aug. 17, 2016 - Imagine being offered the chance to pay the same price per gallon for a year at the gas station. No matter the price of oil per barrel, you pay the same amount for that gallon of gas each time you fill up your tank.
Black Hills Energy is offering select residential natural gas customers in eastern Nebraska a similar opportunity through the Annual Price Option program. APO allows these customers the chance to lock in the per-therm price of natural gas for one year.
This option is not available to former SourceGas customers; however, those customers will again be able to take advantage of the Choice Gas program next spring.
Customers can enroll in the Annual Price Option beginning Aug. 18 at www.annualpriceoption.com or by calling 800-753-7509 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Enrollment ends Sept. 30 or when 9,500 customers have enrolled, whichever occurs first. The locked-in commodity price will be in effect from Nov. 1, 2016, through Oct. 31, 2017.
'APO provides assurance for our residential customers who like knowing their natural gas commodity price will remain the same for an entire year,' said Kevin Jarosz, Black Hills Energy business operations director. 'Just like any commodity, the market price for natural gas is influenced by demand. Signing up for the APO program means knowing what price you will pay, regardless what the market does.'
Whether or not customers opt to take advantage of APO, their bills will still vary depending on how much natural gas they use as well as taxes and fees. Customers who decide not to participate in the program will pay traditional billing rate, where gas prices fluctuate monthly to reflect market changes.
Customers can also take advantage of the year-round Budget Billing option. Budget Billing gives customers levelized monthly billing, which helps alleviate the spikes they might see on their bills during the peaks of heating season.
Black Hills Energy's Nebraska service territory is divided into three rate areas. Prices for this year's APO program and the traditional billing are the same in all areas.
Annual Price Option and Traditional Billing Natural Gas Price Comparison | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Black Hills Energy Rate Area | Partial Listing of Communities Served | 2016-17 APO Natural Gas Price* per therm | 2015-16 APO Natural Gas Price* per therm | Current Traditional Billing Natural Gas Price* per therm |
Nov. 1, 2016-Oct. 31, 2017 | Nov. 1, 2015-Oct. 31, 2016 | June 2016 | ||
| 1 | Bellevue, Blair, Gretna, La Vista, Papillion, Plattsmouth, Ralston, Valley and Waterloo | $0.44980 | $0.44476 | $0.35199 |
| 2 | Lincoln, Walton and Cheney | $0.44980 | $0.44173 | $0.35199 |
| 3 | All other areas, including Auburn, Aurora, Beatrice, Columbus, Fairbury, Norfolk, Seward, Wayne and York | $0.44980 | $0.46950 | $0.35199 |
* In addition to the actual natural gas supply cost, all customer bills include Black Hills Energy's delivery charge (identified as 'Base Rate' on customers' monthly bill) of $0.195 per therm of natural gas and other fees and taxes approved by the Nebraska Public Service Commission. The total bill is subject to the Gas Cost Reconciliation (identified on the Black Hills Energy monthly bill as 'GCR') per-therm charge.
Tags:news
Black Hills Corporation published this content on 17 August 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 17 August 2016 23:45:09 UTC.
Original documenthttp://www.blackhillscorp.com/node/117683
Public permalinkhttp://www.publicnow.com/view/01333AF3DCC21C0E35B7A5C81DBAE3640BE6A84F
