Midwest → Dayton area...

Who has chosen a new natural gas supplier? Who is paying the Vectren SCO price? If you went with another supplier - did you choose a yearly contract or month to month?

I am confused completely. Can someone please sum up this whole thing? I understand that Vectren Energy Delivery is the physical supplier of the gas to my house...and I think these other "bidding companies" bought the right to "sell" gas and have VED distribute it. Is that right? Regardless, can someone please clarify what all this is and which supplier or SCO I should go with????? Thanks.

You have the basics correct - they have the right to sell gas that Vectren distributes in their pipes. Vectren wants to be a distributer - not a seller and distributer of gas.

As for what you should do - not something others can decided for you since prices and deals vary.
Vectren sent out in the mail, the explanation and the list of companies that can sell to Vectren customers. It also gave the web site and the price Vectren is currently charging for comparison.

You likely have already been associated with a supplier other than Vecrten if you have not chosen one already.

At this point, I'm staying with Vectren. They were the cheapest too... I don't do contracts like they offer. They always use scare tactics telling people the price of gas is "expected" to increase and so far, it really never has. Problem is, people lock in at a higher rate since it will be the highest they'd pay or the "cap" price. Then, the actual rate never reaches that, but they still pay MORE !

I have not been terribly impressed with the contract prices as well. I believe they moved me to ICS as the provider. I remember looking at the different companies but then got busy so I don't remember the prices for month to month...

I still use Vectren....I had a heat pump installed a few years back and my gas usage plummeted to 36.00 level billing!! I just wish I could have gotten the credit for it now.......

So nobody is doing the price lock deal? I have been handed off to IGS by default it looks like. Started a new account a couple of months ago and have been sent tons of mail over this. DP&L has something similar.. but that's a no brainer for someone who owns DP&L stock. IGS sent me a letter saying I am on variable rate and they want to lock me in at 77¢/CCF for 1 year.

I guess it all comes down to how one feels about the timetable for cost of energy going up. (economy truly rebounding).

I have struggled with the idea of locking in but I think the availability of nat gas has not been that bad and the winters have not been horrendous. If it was heating oil I would probabyl consider it more but it seems the contract price is a minimum of 10 cents more. And with a gas heater, water heater, and stove\oven - that could add up pretty quickly.

This gas deal has me struggling as well. According the the chart on the IGS mailer gas was almost double in price 2 years ago. But the 5 year low (looks like last winter) was only around 20¢ lower. I can't help thinking why they would want you to lock into a price if they think the cost may go up. Does the competition law require suppliers to offer these price locks? Even if they do, the marketing is strong for the lock program.

I don't think they have to offer locked prices - it is a gamble and their marketing always make sure to panic people into locking the price. The earlier the better and they hope the price will stay down.

I found out that if you do nothing, they randomly place you with one of the four "main" suppliers. That's what they did to me... I'm with Ohio Natural Gas (??) now. I looked at the information months ago and decided it was best to simply stay with Vectren, so I did nothing. Turns out that wasn't sufficient. You HAVE to choose or they choose for you.

My gas bill runs under $40/mo through the summer so I'm not in a hurry at this point.

This may be of interest. It takes some of the guesswork out of locking in or not.
»tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/in ··· date.asp
It shows the availability and surplus levels and historic average levels.

A suggestion, with some of the companies, when you switch your first 2 or 3 months is at a reduced price, then it switches to the contract price so you want to do the switch in Oct.