Manitoba

Natural Gas:

Certain local distribution companies in Manitoba, like Centra Gas, have reformed their business structure to offer all customers a chance to shop for lower natural gas rates. Customers can choose a different company to supply them with their gas. Customers choosing an alternative gas supplier will still have their gas supply delivered by the local utility, but customers will be buying their gas supply from a new company.

A customer's natural gas bill has been separated into four parts:

• Primary Gas: The gas supply you typically consume in a month. This is the part of the bill open to choice
• Supplemental Gas: This gas is purchased by Centra when demand is higher than normal to ensure supply is available
• Transportation: This is the cost of transporting natural gas to Manitoba on pipelines, and also storage costs
• Distribution: The cost to flow gas from large regional pipelines into your city or town's local distribution pipes

Customers can choose to receive their Primary Gas supply from their utility, or an alternative gas provider.

If customers do not shop for an alternative gas supplier, they receive default supply service from their utility. Under default supply service, customers pay a supply charge called 'cost of gas' which can vary as often as monthly for larger customers, or every three months for residential customers. Customers can avoid wild monthly swings in the gas supply charge by contracting with an alternative gas supplier.

No matter who you choose to buy energy from, your local utility will continue to deliver your gas and respond to service interruptions and outages.