Natural Gas

How many times have you, or someone you know, looked at a utility bill and said you wish you could set your own rates for natural gas?

Ohio residents will soon have their say as they take matters into their own hands using the online auction site eBay. Those  Ohio residents served by Columbia Gas or Dominion East Ohio can visit www.mxenergy.com/eBay to participate and outbid their neighbors for a chance to set their own price for a year’s supply of natural gas.

“This online auction will ‘empower’ bidders to set their own rate for natural gas and help manage energy costs,” says MXenergy president and chief executive Jeffrey Mayer. “As homeowners struggle with a tightening economy and skyrocketing energy costs, MXenergy is offering a unique way for them to set their own price for natural gas.”

Mayer says that pricing is explained on the auction site and can be accessed at www.mxenergy.com/ebay. If the final bid price exceeds MXenergy’s current 12 month fixed rate, the excess will be donated to an Ohio charity. In no uncertain terms, he says that the offer is available only to bidders who live in the Columbia Gas of Ohio or Dominion East markets.

Mayer says that MXenergy knows that energy costs strain household finances. While energy costs are among the top concerns, an MXenergy survey of American households show that only 30% of those responding understand how home energy prices are set and 90% feel they have limited or no control over their home energy costs.

“We want our customers to take control of their home energy spend and make the best energy choices, and there’s no better way to exercise that control by asking consumers to set the price they’ll pay - in a very out-of-the box way,”  Mayer says.

Founded in 1999, MXenergy serves about 500,000 customers in 37 utility territories in the United States and Canada.

Stay tuned. More to come. This will be an interesting experiment to watch and see what happens.

–John A. Sullivan, News Editor, Oil and Gas Investor, www.OilandGasInvestor.com, jsullivan@hartenergy.com

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