Key components in Switzerland County Natural Gas Company's bills include gas costs and base rates.
To compare natural gas bills for regulated Indiana utilities, see the IURC's monthly residential surveys.
Gas Costs
Natural gas utilities buy gas for their customers in a competitive wholesale market. Indiana law allows utilities to adjust rates periodically to recover changes in those costs, which can go up or down. These costs comprise a significant portion of a residential bill and are recovered through the Gas Cost Adjustment (GCA) process.
- Utilities may recover wholesale gas costs on a dollar-for-dollar basis but may not profit on them.
- Before adjusting rates to reflect the costs, a utility must demonstrate that it has shopped prudently in the competitive market.
- Each GCA filing requires OUCC review and IURC approval.
Switzerland County Natural Gas files gas cost adjustment requests every three months. Its most recent GCA (Cause No. 37791 GCA-115) received approval in October 2024.
Base Rates
Base rates cover "non-gas" costs for a utility, including operational, maintenance, and capital costs. A natural gas utility is allowed to earn a return on this portion of the bill.
The IURC approved current base rates for Switzerland County Natural Gas in April 2019.
Additional Resources
10-31-2024