NEED HELP: Natural Gas Price Contract Expiring

[mustanglover76]

Hello,

I need help. My families contract with riterate for natural gas is expiring April 1st. I went to their website and the current price they have is 34.8c/m3. I'm not sure, what to do, do i renew, is there another company cheaper, do i do monthly instead...i'm not at all familiar with this area but would like to know more...any assistance would be very helpful.

Thanks

[gman]

Hello,

I need help. My families contract with riterate for natural gas is expiring April 1st. I went to their website and the current price they have is 34.8c/m3. I'm not sure, what to do, do i renew, is there another company cheaper, do i do monthly instead...i'm not at all familiar with this area but would like to know more...any assistance would be very helpful.

Thanks

If you are not sure, don't renew the contract (make sure you do inform them formally). If you don't like the price, don't renew it.

Check http://energyshop.com/ for more information.

[MacGyver]

For reference, last week's natural gas spot price on the NYMEX exchange was $4.72 per MMBTU. Converting for units of energy and exchange rate of 80%, that works out to 20 Canadian cents per cubic meter.

EDIT: the price dropped to $4.54 today.

So unless you are willing to gamble that natural gas rates are going to skyrocket in the next few years, I would inform your current gas marketer that the contract will end on the prescribed date and not be automatically renewed. Just go with your local distribution company (LDC) gas supplier (Enbridge/Union Gas/etc.) who has to sell you gas at market rates without profit.

[Hunter316]

With the market down on natural gas the way it is now I would not lock into any contract. It seems like it will be a while until the resorce sector recovers and makes it worth locking into something.

[ZenOps]

Don't renew.

Almost every oil analyst is expecting natural gas to drop to $3/GJ by summer and stay there.

[mustanglover76]

I spoke to Enbridge who from what i can see is the cheapest and they said just ensure you cancel with your company before the contract end date and we'll be automatically signed on with enbridge. So i called RiteRate and they said if i didn't renew online that it would automatically cancel at that date and go to Enbridge.

[luckydog2006]

For those who are NOT on a fixed contract, what are you being charged per cubic meter currently? I noticed that my natgas bill shows .44 cents/cubic meter. Is this similar with those of you that is not on a fixed contract?

[gman]

For those who are NOT on a fixed contract, what are you being charged per cubic meter currently? I noticed that my natgas bill shows .44 cents/cubic meter. Is this similar with those of you that is not on a fixed contract?

If you are indeed paying .44 cents instead of 44 cents, it is great. :D
I am paying around 18 cents.

[luckydog2006]

If you are indeed paying .44 cents instead of 44 cents, it is great. :D
I am paying around 18 cents.

I mean $0.44/cubic meter. Are you on contract? If not which natgas supplier are you using? Most current fixed prices are ~ 26 cents/cubic meter. Kind of hard to believe that it can be 18 cents/cubic meter.

[Whitedart]

I mean $0.44/cubic meter. Are you on contract? If not which natgas supplier are you using? Most current fixed prices are ~ 26 cents/cubic meter. Kind of hard to believe that it can be 18 cents/cubic meter.

Why is it hard to believe? Non contract gas supply is regulated, and Enbridge is currently 17.3748 m3.

Your contract supplier is making 26.63 cents in profit per cubic meter of usage by locking you in.

[luckydog2006]

Why is it hard to believe? Non contract gas supply is regulated, and Enbridge is currently 17.3748 m3.

Your contract supplier is making 26.63 cents in profit per cubic meter of usage by locking you in.

You're mistaken or made the wrong assumption. I am not on any contract at the moment. My natgas price of $0.44/cubic meter is a non-contract price. I was on a 1-yr contract and it expired earlier this year. At that time, I was only paying $0.25/cubic meter. Now that my fixed 1-yr contract is over, I've noticed that the price is higher. That's why I am asking about what most people are paying. My current natgas supplier is Direct Energy.

[luckydog2006]

Ok, I understand why my current natgas pricing is higher. When my fixed contract was over, it still remained with Direct Energy (since I did not call to cancel). If I cancel it, my natgas supplier would switch from Direct Energy back to my local utility which is Enbridge. And Enbridge would charge at the market rate. So that makes sense. I just cancelled it. I only paid a month on the higher natgas charges, so not too bad.

[Whitedart]

You're mistaken or made the wrong assumption. I am not on any contract at the moment. My natgas price of $0.44/cubic meter is a non-contract price. I was on a 1-yr contract and it expired earlier this year. At that time, I was only paying $0.25/cubic meter. Now that my fixed 1-yr contract is over, I've noticed that the price is higher. That's why I am asking about what most people are paying. My current natgas supplier is Direct Energy.

Are you sure you are not on contract? Direct Energy is a marketing arm of Enbridge, and will automatically renew your contract if you fail to cancel an expiring contract.

Direct Energy's current rate at Energyshop.com is 34.9 per m3, and somewhat less than 44 cents..

Ok, I understand why my current natgas pricing is higher. When my fixed contract was over, it still remained with Direct Energy (since I did not call to cancel). If I cancel it, my natgas supplier would switch from Direct Energy back to my local utility which is Enbridge. And Enbridge would charge at the market rate. So that makes sense. I just cancelled it. I only paid a month on the higher natgas charges, so not too bad.

Cancelling would be a wise move.

[stevethewheel]

I spoke to Enbridge who from what i can see is the cheapest and they said just ensure you cancel with your company before the contract end date and we'll be automatically signed on with enbridge. So i called RiteRate and they said if i didn't renew online that it would automatically cancel at that date and go to Enbridge.

RiteRate. Cool guys. You're lucky you signed with them I don't think they are into playing tricks.

Recently sold my home and was worried that I'd be stuck with buying out the contract but I called RiteRate and getting out was very straightforward. They wanted proof that I'd sold and so on...all very reasonable, pleasantly explained and low-key.

I think that buying a contract right now is not the best way to go. I'd wait until predictions are higher, or wait for contract rates to drop.

[Keigotw]

Hello,

I need help. My families contract with riterate for natural gas is expiring April 1st. I went to their website and the current price they have is 34.8c/m3. I'm not sure, what to do, do i renew, is there another company cheaper, do i do monthly instead...i'm not at all familiar with this area but would like to know more...any assistance would be very helpful.

Thanks

Don't renew gas rate is down
"Gas Supply Charge
The Gas Supply Charge has decreased from 30.3652 cents per cubic metre ("¢/m³") to 23.5363 ¢/m³. This price is based on a forecast of market prices for the next 12 months. The forecast price is reviewed every three months and, if necessary, adjusted accordingly to reflect market changes. If our forecasts are over or under our actual costs, we reimburse or collect the difference from customers through gas cost adjustments.

There is a new Gas Cost Adjustment refund of 6.1615 ¢/m³ for the period April 1, 2009, through December 31, 2009. This refund combined with the Gas Supply Charge results in a new total effective Gas Supply rate of 17.3748 cents per cubic metre.

Enbridge Gas Distribution does not make a profit on the cost of natural
"

https://portal-plumprod.cgc.enbridge.com/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=248&PageID=0&cached=true&mode=2&userID=2

I locked mine in @ $0.369 :( , @ that time the news was saying price was going up
blah blah, then after I locked in and after my cancel period, the price went down and still going down :(

[luckydog2006]

Do these prices include distribution?

No. The price of distribution is fixed. The only thing you can change is the price /cubic meter. So, if you're hunting for a good price, you can check out energyshop.com and look for the lowest price when compared to your local utility (Enbridge in my case). I've been lucky to lock in my prices when natgas prices have gone super high. But at current low prices (free market price) from Enbridge, its better not to lock into any natgas fixed pricing.