New fixed gas rates in Canfield, Poland

Staff report

Officials in Poland Village and Canfield city and township announced that they have a new fixed rate for natural gas.

The village reached an agreement with Vectren Source, a natural-gas provider based in Evansville, Ind., to charge $5.99 per month beginning in November.

The previous rate was $6.39 per month through IGS Energy of Dublin, Ohio.

Residents who have not chosen a natural-gas supplier will receive an opt-out letter from Vectren Source around Oct. 22. Those people automatically will be included in the village’s program unless they opt out during a 21-day period as stated in the letter, said Mark Burns, president of Independent Energy Consultants, in a statement.

Poland township residents will be offered the same rate of $5.99 monthly through Vectren Source. This is down from last year’s $7.47 rate with IGS Energy. Canfield and Boardman townships also have established a fixed rate for residents enrolled in the natural-gas aggregation program through Vectren Source.

Canfield Township residents in the Dominion East Ohio service area will pay $5.98 per mcf per month, and those who receive gas through Columbia Gas will pay $6.84 per mcf. The rates are good from November to October 2011.

Mcf is the volume of 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas and is used to measure natural-gas usage.

Boardman residents also will pay a rate of $5.98 per mcf per month from November through October 2011.

These residents automatically will be enrolled unless they choose to opt out by calling Vectren Source at 800-608-8510.

Beginning in November, Canfield city residents enrolled in the Direct Choice program will pay a fixed rate on natural gas.

The fixed rate of $6.78 per mcf per month, which will run from November to October 2011, is offered to all city residents and businesses through a natural-gas opt-out aggregation program, which means customers automatically are included in the fixed rate unless they call Direct Energy and ask to be excluded.

For more information, residents can contact Direct Energy’s customer service department at 866-803-4618.