Once colder weather rolls in, anticipating the your monthly gas bill can be a source of stress for natural gas customers. Thanks to Budget Billing with Peoples Gas, that stress can be a thing of the past. Rather than receiving gas bills with spikes in winter and low dips in summer, Budget Billing allows our customers to average out your gas charges and take control of your expenses. With Budget Billing, your bill becomes nice and steady year-round, which gives you more predictability and makes it easier to set a budget.
We use records of your past usage and a simple formula to calculate your Budget Billing payment. We look at actual or estimated meter readings, gas usage, and projected weather conditions to calculate your “Average Gas Usage Per Year.” We divide that number by 12 to get your "Average Gas Usage Per Month.”
Your “Average Gas Usage Per Month” is multiplied by the current gas rate to generate your affordable monthly budget payment. Through the Budget Billing program, you are required to pay only the budget amount. You are not required to pay your current charges or the account balance, which also appear on your bill.
To prevent any shortages or overages, we review your gas usage on a quarterly basis and adjust your Budget amount to more accurately reflect your usage habits, or a change in gas rates. Many people don't realize this, but there are certain charges on your bill that are actually pass-through charges. What you pay for the gas is what we pay for the gas; we can never markup those pass-through charges. So if the gas costs more for us to purchase from a supplier, then your gas cost (commodity charge or Price to Compare) might fluctuate. This means your “Affordable Monthly Budget" payment could increase or decrease after the quarterly review period. At the time of a budget review, any remaining account balance is automatically adjusted into your new budget amount.
To stay on the plan, you must pay the budget amount by the due date each month. Credit extensions and payment agreements will not be granted to customers on the Budget Billing plan. You can withdraw from Budget Billing at any time. At the time of withdrawal, your account balance is due in full.
Customers can enroll in Budget Billing, at no additional cost, through your Peoples e-account online or by calling us at 1-800-764-0111.
If you have any additional questions about Budget Billing, you can learn more on our Billing Options page or reach out to us at any time. We’re happy to answer any questions you might have, and to help you keep your gas bill steady all through the colder months.
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