what gas company did you choose? (Atlanta, Jackson: middle-class, sales, mortgage)

[Go Blue 99]

We are moving into our new townhome (DeKalb Co.) next week. The builder said we need to choose one of the many gas companies available. Does anyone have any low-cost recommendations?

thanks

[plessthanpointohfive]

I think they're all pretty comparable because they all get their gas from Atlanta Gas Light....

[RainyRainyDay]

Georgia Natural Gas and Scana have both ripped off their long-term customers in the past year or two. There have been some recent articles in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It turns out I have been paying GNG about $50 a month more I would have been paying at the newer-customer rates. What a way to reward customer loyalty! The settlement GNG has agreed to will award us $25 (that's total, not per month) if we remain as GNG customers. Boy, what an incentive to stay with GNG ... not.

I picked Fireside Natural Gas from the PSC website and ordered a change of marketer. It will take effect April 1, so I have no experience with Fireside to share, so far.

Here's the website you need to get the available info on gas marketers, and make your choice: Georgia Public Service Commission

[K'ledgeBldr]

Went with Walton a couple of years ago.
They had the lowest per/therm rate at the time.

[plessthanpointohfive]

Can you choose Walton if you live in DeKalb???? I thought your onely choices were one of the Atlanta Gas Light distributers like Scana or Georgia Natural Gas??

[Go Blue 99]

Originally Posted by plessthanpointohfive

Can you choose Walton if you live in DeKalb???? I thought your onely choices were one of the Atlanta Gas Light distributers like Scana or Georgia Natural Gas??

This map seems to say DeKalb Co is eligible:

WaltonEMC Natural Gas (http://www.waltonemcnaturalgas.com/service_area.html - broken link)

[plessthanpointohfive]

OK, then. I just wasn't sure. DeKalb is pretty big so I didn't know if maybe only parts of it were eligible, etc.

I lived in Gwinnett for a while and used Jackson EMC...

[RainyRainyDay]

Coweta-Fayette has had the cheapest rates (for variable rate, standard plan) most recently, according to the price charts here: http://www.psc.state.ga.us/gas/pricecard.asp

When I picked Fireside, earlier this month, I assumed Coweta-Fayette was only available to people in those counties. I've since realized that's not true. However, Fireside has been consistently cheap for months, it seems, and has pricing very close to C-F now, so I'm not unhappy with my choice.

Walton (mentioned by somebody, above) has not been cheapest lately. I suppose which-is-cheapest varies from year to year. I, like pless, thought all the providers were much-of-a-muchness and didn't worry about checking up, until the recent AJC expose. When I got our our actual bills and checked, I discovered we've been paying an extra $50 a month to GNG this winter (the difference between the price per therm they've been charging us, and what they've been charging newer customers). That really made me pay attention.

We started out with GNG because they were the "provider of last resort" at the time we moved here. Since we were coming from Canada, we hadn't previously had US SSNs and were therefore unknown to the US credit bureaus. The US credit system is very egalitarian. It treats new arrivals, whether middle-class Canadians or penniless third-world refugees, exactly the same, i.e. as indigents.

[beach]

You need to enroll with MX through a direct sales rep to get the fixed rates, but it provides "peace of mind" in a volatile market, much like having a fixed rate mortgage does.

[Zel Ya]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

Georgia Natural Gas and Scana have both ripped off their long-term customers in the past year or two. There have been some recent articles in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It turns out I have been paying GNG about $50 a month more I would have been paying at the newer-customer rates. What a way to reward customer loyalty! The settlement GNG has agreed to will award us $25 (that's total, not per month) if we remain as GNG customers. Boy, what an incentive to stay with GNG ... not.

I picked Fireside Natural Gas from the PSC website and ordered a change of marketer. It will take effect April 1, so I have no experience with Fireside to share, so far.

Here's the website you need to get the available info on gas marketers, and make your choice: Georgia Public Service Commission

Thanks for the address.

I've read one very good AJC article which explained the current natural gas market forces and conditions. I can't recall the exact day or date of this article, but for some reason I have in my mind that it was in either a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday paper earlier this month.

The article stressed that this summer's sky-high prices are an aberration, and are not reflective of past pricing trends and patterns. I guess natural gas prices tend to be very cyclical with higher prices during the winter months, and lower prices during the summer months.