Compare commercial gas suppliers beyond the headline rate in California

California: Make the bid specification match the utility

Start with EIA: natural gas customer choice and eligibility. The table below links this decision to the represented gas companies in California. It does not establish service or supplier availability for every account.

Require an inclusion schedule

Ask bidders to mark commodity, capacity, balancing, taxes, utility transportation and account fees as included, excluded or variable. An unanswered field is an unresolved cost, not zero.

Compare risk as well as the modeled total

Read the volume measurement period, assignment process, early-exit calculation and renewal mechanism. Request a written calculation for a material overrun or closure rather than relying on a product name such as fixed or flexible.

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

Give bidders the same specification for Aggregator commodity and customer fees versus utility procurement, with delivery retained. Ask who is responsible for Who supplies, balances and bills the account; conditions for returning to utility procurement. Do not rank an incomplete answer as the cheapest complete offer.

Worked check: fees can reverse the lower rate

Assume hypothetical annual consumption of 10,000 therms. A costs $0.80 per therm plus $20 monthly: $8,240. B costs $0.76 plus $60 monthly: $8,320. B’s commodity price is lower, but its modeled supply total is $80 higher. Equal cost occurs at 12,000 annual therms under these constant-rate assumptions. These are invented inputs, not available offers, local tariffs or program thresholds. Delivery, tax, exit costs and any excluded components still require a separate review.

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.