How much is to much for natural gas?

Have you looked at how Centerpoint Energy now charges you for your natural gas? Centerpoint has put in place a new rate structure that charges you more money per therm of gas the more you use. Centerpoint says this is to promote high gas users to find more efficient heating options and conserve gas. What I find strange is usually the more of something you buy the cost goes down. When you buy bulk at Costco you get a discount because the cost per transaction goes down when volume goes up. With the new plan a tier 3-5 customer will pay 25-48% above the cost of gas. Minnesota Attorney General is now investigating this program as they have found 42% of Centerpoint customers in MN top 10 highest poverty communities are paying the max tier 5 rates. These are the people that have old homes and heating systems that they can’t afford to improve the efficiency. So is it fair to charge them an inflated high price because of this? Especially knowing if one customer uses a lot of a product looking at a business side they should be paying the lowest rate. Comfort Matters is a huge supporter of helping our customers save money on energy use and we want people to come to us for answers. But why could a company just raise their rates like Centerpoint when a homeowner has no other option but buy gas from them? You can read the Fox News article about the Attorney General request to suspend the current rate structure here: http://ow.ly/58n89

2010 Minnesota Centerpoint Energy Rebates

Minnesota Centerpoint Energy Rebates

Centerpoint Energy is the primary natural gas supplier for Minneapolis Twin City area. 2010 has brought a nice increase in rebates. In 2009 a customer would get $150 back if the installed a new 95% Efficient furnace. With energy being a major effort in our country there have been increased rebate programs.

Below is the list of rebates a homeowner can get. A quality heating installation company will be able to walk you through this process. Some of the companies take care of 100% of the paperwork for you. After you have a new qualifying heating system installed you will receive your rebate check in the mail typically 4-6 weeks after installation.

2010 Centerpoint Rebates:

$150 92% AFUE or greater gas furnace
$300 95% AFUE or greater gas furnace
$400 96% AFUE or greater gas furnace

$300 83.5% AFUE or greater gas boiler
$500 91% AFUE or greater condensing gas boiler

$25 Install programmable thermostat with qualifying heating system.


I would not concern yourself much over a 95% or 96% furnace. Most manufactures don't even offer a 96% efficient furnace. And in real world homes you will never see a difference on fuel savings between a 95% or 96%. Carefully screen the company installing your furnace because there installation methods can make a big difference on how efficient the furnace actually operates in your home. How the company designs the duct work connections will also effect how noisy the furnace is and how much electricity it will use. At completion there should be a combustion performance test done to tune the furnace for maximum energy savings. Companies using NCI (National Comfort Institute) standards will far our perform others.