Worked commercial gas cost examples in California

California: Build an auditable result instead of a sales story

Start with EIA: natural gas volume, heat content and energy units. The table below links this decision to the represented gas companies in California. It does not establish service or supplier availability for every account.

Define the counterfactual

Retain what the business would otherwise have paid for the same service months and quantities. Identify whether that is an existing contract, an effective utility supply component or another dated written offer. Do not switch baselines after seeing the result.

Bridge model to invoices

Separate quantity changes from comparable price changes, then reconcile fixed charges, retained delivery and timing corrections. Preserve enrollment confirmation and invoices before presenting an actual outcome. A favorable calculator scenario is only a model.

California utility application

SoCalGas: the program detail behind this decision

SoCalGas separates an aggregator’s commodity service from utility transportation. Its CAT guidance expressly says that switching does not assure savings. Establish core or noncore status before using an aggregator proposal as the benchmark. Socal Cat.

Apply the evidence to an account file

The case file needs comparable evidence for Aggregator commodity and customer fees versus utility procurement, with delivery retained. First establish Core or noncore classification; CAT participation and the accepted agent so the proposed baseline is an available alternative for this account.

Worked case: distinguish a model from an observed result

For a hypothetical 10,000-therm account, $0.80 per therm plus $20 monthly models to $8,240. An alternative at $0.76 plus $60 monthly models to $8,320. That is an $80 increase in the defined supply scope, not a saving. This conclusion is still only a scenario until eligibility, accepted enrollment and actual comparable invoices are established. Keep the same quantity and delivery period in both calculations. Do not present these invented inputs as a local client case or publish them as market rates.

Turn the review into a calculation

Compare constant supply rates and fees. Enter documented assumptions in matching energy units. Keep any charge outside both supply offers separate; the result does not establish eligibility or an available quote.

Read the California utility guide for the wider service-company distinctions. Convert billed gas units using the bill’s heat-content factor when moving from volume to energy.