Problem 3 -Customers of gas utilities are not informed of the price per unit that they will be paying for gas for the next month. If there is going to be a significant increase, they need to have an opportunity to conserve, look at alternatives, or otherwise reduce their consumption. Billings to customers are not always clear, a simplified standard statewide billing format would be beneficial to inform customers about their purchases. We also must recognize that residential consumers do not purchase natural gas as a commodity, but as a service that provides heating, hot water, cooking and clothes drying, It is the monthly bill that registers with the consumer, not the unit price. Today, customers have more information on the market price of natural gas that ever before.
Newspapers daily publish prices for natural gas along with other commodities.
It is unlikely that utilities could provide incrementally better price signals than those which are already so widely distributed. With respect to a statewide billing format, the Commission's Quality of Service Rules have already set a statewide standard for the kinds of information that must be included in a bill. Presumably, these requirements could be amended if necessary . As noted Entex and Lone Star have PGA periods that smooth out monthly fluctuations in the cost of gas. Note, however, that there are trade-offs.