Ohio · Updated August 31, 2026

Ohio natural gas choice, explained

Verified August 31, 2026. Source: PUCO Standard Choice Offer filings and each utility's published monthly rate. Reviewed at the start of each month.

The Standard Choice Offer, and why it moves

Electricity and gas were deregulated in Ohio on the same principle: the utility keeps the pipes, and you choose who sells you what flows through them. The difference is in the default.

An electric utility sets its Price to Compare once a year and holds it. A gas utility's Standard Choice Offer is recalculated every month — the NYMEX month-end settlement price for natural gas, plus a fixed retail adjustment set by a PUCO auction each January. Columbia Gas's August rate, for instance, is a $2.7250 market price plus a $2.25 adjustment.

This is the whole reason gas choice is a different decision from electricity choice. You are not comparing a supplier's price against a stable benchmark. You are comparing a fixed price against a number that will move every month for the length of the contract.

What the default costs right now

August rates, and August is the cheapest month of the year. Gas is a winter commodity: the same utilities were quoting two to three times these numbers in January. Any comparison made in summer against a fixed offer that runs through winter is comparing the wrong months.

Ccf or Mcf — read the unit before the number

An Mcf is a thousand cubic feet. A Ccf is a hundred. One Mcf is ten Ccf, so the same rate can be quoted as $0.4975 or $4.975 depending on which unit the page uses, and the two look nothing alike.

Utilities bill in Ccf. Suppliers quote in both. A supplier offer that looks ten times cheaper than your bill is a unit mismatch, not a deal — check the unit before you check the price.

Dominion is now Enbridge

If your bill used to say Dominion Energy Ohio, it now says Enbridge Gas Ohio. Before Dominion it was East Ohio Gas. The pipes, the territory and the SCO mechanism did not change with the name — but supplier offers and comparison sites are inconsistent about which name they use, and searching the old one will miss current rates.

One quirk worth knowing: Enbridge's rate cycle runs mid-month to mid-month (currently August 11 – September 9, 2026) rather than on the calendar month like the other two. Its SCO also only covers homes and non-residential accounts using up to 200 Mcf a year; larger accounts negotiate directly.

When switching gas supplier is worth it

The honest answer is that it is a narrower decision than on the electric side, and worth it in fewer cases.

• —A fixed rate is insurance, not a discount. You will beat the SCO in a cold winter and lose to it in a mild one. If a stable bill is worth more to you than the expected saving, that is a legitimate reason to fix — it is just not the same reason as saving money.
• —Check the term and the exit fee first. A two-year fixed rate signed in August locks you through two winters, and early termination fees typically run $50 to $200.
• —Watch for variable-rate offers that start below the SCO. The introductory month is the pitch; after it the rate floats at the supplier's discretion, which is a worse position than the default.
• —Large commercial accounts are a different market. Above roughly 200 Mcf a year you are negotiating, not shopping a list.

Where to compare

PUCO publishes the certified supplier offers for gas at energychoice.ohio.gov, the same site as electricity but under a different category — picking the wrong one is the most common mistake on that tool. The list is neutral: it is the regulator's, and no supplier pays to be on it or to be ranked higher.