Is my business eligible for the WPS Gas Choice program?

If your company is a customer of WPS and you use more than 5,000 therms of natural gas per year per meter, you are eligible for Gas Choice.

If you are interested in Gas Choice and use 5,000 or more therms per year per meter, we encourage you to sign up for Gas Choice by March 1. Next steps will depend on approval of our proposal for expanded eligibility, which is expected sometime in April.

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Why is WPS offering this program? Won't WPS lose business?

WPS recognizes that some of our natural gas customers, especially larger-volume customers, can save money by choosing a gas supplier other than WPS. We think it's important to provide you with this opportunity.

With Gas Choice, you may choose another gas supplier, or you may choose to stay with WPS as your supplier. Regardless of which company you choose to supply your gas, we will still be here to deliver it to your business (providing gas transportation service). WPS will remain the same dedicated company you have always trusted to deliver your gas, read your meter, assist you with billing and respond quickly to any emergency.

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Why are some alternate natural gas suppliers able to offer gas at a less expensive rate than Wisconsin Public Service?

While there's no quick and easy answer to this question, here are some factors that can allow alternate suppliers to offer natural gas at lower prices:

• Alternate suppliers can be selective about the customers they serve. This allows them to avoid business they believe will be unprofitable and control the volume of gas they serve. As a regulated utility, WPS has an obligation to serve all customers in our service area.
• Alternate gas suppliers are sometimes able to purchase pipeline capacity at a discounted price by purchasing capacity not being used by utilities. This is commonly referred to as released capacity.
• Alternate gas suppliers sometimes hedge their gas prices. This means they purchase or sell financial contracts with other parties that fix or cap the price they have to pay for gas purchases. As a regulated utility, WPS has no approved program for purchasing these types of contracts. We purchase natural gas at market prices.

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When is the sign-up period for Gas Choice? When will I begin service with my new gas supplier?

The sign-up period for Gas Choice runs from Jan. 1 through March 1. You can then begin purchasing natural gas from the supplier of your choice on Nov. 1.

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What contract terms are available with Gas Choice?

If you choose a new natural gas supplier with Gas Choice, you'll need to negotiate the terms of your contract (including the duration of the contract) with the gas supplier. It's important to remember that if you do sign up with an alternate supplier and later decide to return to WPS for your gas supply, you'll need to let us know within the following timeframe: Notify WPS by March 1 of a given year to return to WPS gas supply on or after Nov. 1 of that year.

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How does the natural gas market work?

The "spot market" for natural gas is very active, with parties buying and selling natural gas over the telephone every day. Natural gas is also openly traded as a commodity in a futures market on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), similar to commodities such as corn, sugar, soybeans or pork bellies. The NYMEX brings together buyers and sellers to trade natural gas for delivery at a specified future date. Some parties in the futures market serve customers with the gas they buy. Others are speculating that the prices of the commodity will either rise or fall. It's this buying and selling, or supply and demand, that establishes the price of natural gas. Recently, prices in the gas market have been extremely volatile, driven by speculative interests in the market.

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What causes natural gas costs to change?

Natural gas costs change continually for various reasons:

Natural gas, like other heating fuels, is a weather-sensitive commodity. Colder-than-normal and warmer-than-normal winters, the amount of gas held in storage, severe weather such as hurricanes causing temporary interruptions in wellhead supplies, the price of alternate fuels such as heating oil, and many other factors influence the price of gas.

Deregulation of the natural gas industry has allowed independent gas suppliers and brokers to become involved in supplying gas to consumers. This has made gas prices more market-driven and volatile.

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