Commercial Natural Gas: An Option Businesses Should Consider
The price of commercial natural gas has been declining for several years and the number of commercial natural gas suppliers competing for your business has been increasing. Since deregulation started in Ohio in 1997, the number of competitors has increased, with businesses now able to purchase gas from an agent, aggregator, broker or marketer. Which one is best for you will depend on several factors that you will have to consider.
Ohio ranks as one of the highest energy-consuming states in the country, and has huge storage capacity available.
Is aggregation the best option for good commercial gas rates?
A feature of Ohio's deregulation of commercial natural gas suppliers allows local governments to form natural gas purchasing pools representing their residents and businesses. The process is called aggregation. Voters in each town must approve creating a local aggregate, and even if voters agree to band together, most town aggregators allow individual businesses and residential customers to opt out and shop for themselves.
In November 2011, a number of aggregation votes were on the ballot in Ohio. About 200 such programs have been formed across the Buckeye State.
Commercial gas suppliers offer customers efficiency, dependability
Most of the natural gas used in the United States is produced in the U.S., and supplies are thought to be abundant. That's good news for commercial gas prices. Plus, with new technologies applied to the extraction of natural gas, the reliability of commercial gas and dependability of commercial gas rates appears to be better than ever.
Many commercial gas customers share the same environmental concerns of residential customers. For one, less than a third of the energy used to produce electricity actually gets to your business. Seventy percent of that energy is lost in the production – most in the burning of source fuels – and distribution process. On the other hand, commercial suppliers bring the product from the wellhead to your business by pipe, without burning of other fuels. Studies have shown that 90 percent of commercial gas' energy reaches your business.
And the best part? Your business using gas reduces its carbon footprint – the amount of greenhouse gasses produced by your consumption – by 50 percent, compared to your business using electricity.
Natural gas has improved the efficiency of equipment and appliances, from fryers and griddles for small restaurants to huge heating systems for office buildings. Find more information about rates and your options with commercial gas suppliers by calling your supplier today, or see what OhioGasCompanies.com has to offer by exploring this site more.
