There are two classes of residential natural gas customers: those who switched from oil, and those who did not. Enbridge aims to provide 20% savings to customers who switch to natural gas. Given the spread between oil and electric heating, Enbridge provides a similar spread for natural gas by imposing two residential customer classes: Small General Service Residential Electrical (SGSRE) and Small General Service Residential Oil (SGSRO). If you used to heat with oil, you’re charged the SGSRO rate, otherwise you are charged the SGSRE rate.
Natural gas bills are split into two portions: delivery charge and commodity charge. The commodity charge is the actual cost of the gas you’re burning, while the delivery charge is the cost of delivering that gas from a bulk pipeline to your home. Think of it as a pizza delivery: the pizza may cost $9.99, but it costs another $3.50 to deliver it to your house. Your overall bill is $13.49. Some pizzerias may not charge delivery, but you can be sure that cost is hidden in the overall pizza price. NB Power does not tell you that you’re paying a delivery charge for your energy, they just include it in the overall price. Enbridge breaks these two costs out.
