Natural Gas Service?

[amorak]

Hi guys,

Just bought a new house and am wondering if there are any viable options to the fools at Direct Energy for residential natural gas supply?

Thanks!

[Jimmy Stang]

Enmax has been good for me. Convenient to have the same bill for gas, water, electricity, sewer, etc.

I used to do the "budget plan" at Direct Energy where they try and equalize the payments for you so you're not getting slammed in the winter (different from locking in on a contract - they just do an adjustment at the end of the year and try and keep your payments steady). Since moving to Enmax a few years ago I never bothered, and my bill doesn't fluctuate enough to make it worthwhile. All in I pay about $220 in the summer and just under $300 in the midst of winter. And that's for all of my utilities.

But my house is only about 1400 square feet, but you get the idea.

[Rathji]

I used to love Enmax until they decided to create a second account in our name without telling us when we took one of our services off. Then they proceeded to attempt to cancel our service because we were behind on the account they were charging our stuff to, and overpaid on the account that they were no longer charging stuff to.

It was a real headache, but otherwise they were great.

[Ducay]

Go with Easymax electricity & gas from Enmax. I originally set myself up with Direct Energy, only to discover that Enmax's floating rates are almost always lower for both electricity and gas (compared to direct energy). Plus you get "Easymax rewards dollars" which basically amount to (IIRC) $100/year off your bill. And there is a referral bonus (wink wink).


Sad fact of the matter is that 90% of your bill is made up of the delivery and infrastructure charges, so at the end of the day the difference in floating rates between providers is really only going to add up to a few bucks a month.
Enmax's service has been great and might as well save where you can (with the enmax dollar things).

[amorak]

Originally Posted by fotze

Seeing the ridiculous gas rates coming from horizonal multi-staged fracced wells lately, DO NOT lock into anything to 'protect yourself from higher prices'.

This isn't the problem - the huge investments in the US shale plays (100's of millions every month) is kllin NG prices.

Not only that, but these guys sell their production forward and forward strip prices, and have caused the entire NG forward strip to collapse.

I am looking for any way to float my NG bill that I can with AECO-C. I see that I can do that with Enmax BUSINESS, but nothing for residential

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by amorak

This isn't the problem - the huge investments in the US shale plays (100's of millions every month) is kllin NG prices.

Not only that, but these guys sell their production forward and forward strip prices, and have caused the entire NG forward strip to collapse.

I am looking for any way to float my NG bill that I can with AECO-C. I see that I can do that with Enmax BUSINESS, but nothing for residential

I think Fotze was saying the same thing, shale's keeping gas uber low, so no need to lock in.

As I mentioned, your actual gas usage is going to make up ~$25 of your whole monthly bill.
So unless you've ######edly locked in at $10/GJ your bill isn't going to change all that much between provides. Enmax's floating rates are tied to AECO-C, but then they tack on misc transport and admin fees to get the $/GJ rate. (Which you then get to pay $100/month in distribution chages on!)

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by fotze

Seeing the ridiculous gas rates coming from horizonal multi-staged fracced wells lately, DO NOT lock into anything to 'protect yourself from higher prices'.

Wait what? Back in the housing thread you figured I needed "friends in higher places" because I wasn't bullish on gas like you were. Prices have dropped continuously since then; as much as 25% more to like $3.00 AECO - it's a little better now, but still hurting many companies in town.

Like you say though, not much let up for a good long while with the near record rig counts in the US too. Inventory is still at record levels as well.

[ken0042]

I recently switched from Direct Energy to Enmax. The one thing is a lower admin fee with Enmax (about $5 per month), plus the $100 per year is great. I save it for January or February when the bill is highest.

[sclitheroe]

I feel like a sucker now - am I the only one that checked off the box that said to put the $100 towards investments in wind energy development?

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

I feel like a sucker now - am I the only one that checked off the box that said to put the $100 towards investments in wind energy development?

Here's a brief excerpt from Enmax's most recent financial statements


Revenue - Electricity: $1,231,423,533
Renenue - Gas: $829,201,232
Revenue - Sucker Tax from Sclitheroe: $100

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Here's a brief excerpt from Enmax's most recent financial statements


Revenue - Electricity: $1,231,423,533
Renenue - Gas: $829,201,232
Revenue - Sucker Tax from Sclitheroe: $100

Yeah, definitely a sucker. Still, the nerd in me gets excited when I see those beautiful turbine blades being trucked down the road around Pincher Creek, the are awesome engineering and beautiful at the same time.

[Pinner]

and most of Alberta's electricity comes from coal

[amorak]

Originally Posted by Pinner

and most of Alberta's electricity comes from coal

This is about natural gas prices...

[Pinner]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Yeah, definitely a sucker. Still, the nerd in me gets excited when I see those beautiful turbine blades being trucked down the road around Pincher Creek, the are awesome engineering and beautiful at the same time.

I was commenting on the post above mine, it's quite common