This page was last updated on March 24, 2012.
Accuracy questioned; Les Szell; Beaver County Times; March 22, 2011.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“As of January, Columbia Gas Co. started billing its customers not only the volume of gas used, but also the amount of energy or thermal units it contained.”
[RWC] I wonder if Mr. Szell and Pete Kelley are buddies. Mr. Kelley wrote two previous letters (“Smoke coming from gas company” and “Not too late to speak up”) on this topic. For most of my comments on this topic, please read my critique of “Smoke coming from gas company.”
“The amount of energy calculated by the company using the British Thermal Unit formula (BTU) allows Columbia Gas to adjust your gas bill every month according to its own calculation. This monthly bill can vary from 2 to 5 percent. Your gas meter only measures the volume of gas used. We have to accept the word of Columbia Gas on the accuracy of thermal billing.
“What is next, will the water company start billing us by the density of the water? Presently, only Columbia Gas is using the new billing method.”
[RWC] A better comparison would be the purchase of gasoline by weight.
“Wake up and call the company, your state legislator and the Public Utilities Commission to voice your opposition to this dishonest backdoor play to increase the rates without accurate measurements.”
[RWC] As I noted in the critique of Pete Kelley’s first letter on this topic, the PUC approved the billing change. According to KDKA, “the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in approving the change made it clear the billing change cannot mean the gas company charges its customers more.” What this means is while individual customers will see higher or lower bills, the PUC said the change can’t result in an overall revenue increase for Columbia Gas.
Other than Mr. Szell’s apparent belief the switch to BTU-billing is a scam to increase NG prices, why would anyone object? After all, though they currently pay the same rate per Mcf, for the same amount of energy a customer receiving lower-BTU NG will have a higher bill than the customer receiving higher-BTU NG.
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