Apples to Apples Columbia Gas: How to Read PUCO's Chart

How do you read the Apples to Apples chart for Columbia Gas?

Ohio Energy Savings is not PUCO. Start on PUCO's natural gas Apples to Apples page, pick Residential, then Columbia Gas of Ohio. A business picks the rate code on its bill instead, and PUCO's page lists SGS and GS under Columbia.

The chart has three parts. The box at the top states the default. A filter panel sits under it, and the supplier offers come last, one row for each plan. Our Apples to Apples guide defines every column in that list, so this page covers what is particular to Columbia.

Columbia calls its program CHOICE, a registered service mark, and describes it as the option to buy your gas from a certified supplier instead of Columbia.

What does Columbia's SCO box say about the rate and its suppliers?

PUCO's chart says in its box that the SCO is a monthly variable rate: the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) month-end settlement price for natural gas, plus a retail price adjustment. It states that adjustment twice, in dollars per Mcf and in dollars per Ccf, which is one amount in two units. PUCO says an auction sets the adjustment and that it stays the same for twelve months (PUCO's gas bill guide).

Under the formula, the box names the suppliers an auction picked to serve SCO customers. That list is a PUCO feature, so we do not copy it. Columbia says each SCO supplier charges the same price, its name appears on your bill, and Columbia still delivers your gas and sends the bill.

Two dated lines end the box, one for the rate in force and one for the rate before it. The block above shows the figure and period we hold. Our Columbia gas price to compare page covers the number and when it resets, and the natural gas rates guide defines the SCO, SSO and GCR.

How would a fixed rate have done against Columbia's last twelve SCO periods?

It would have depended on when you use the gas, as the test below shows. Both the box's rate and each offer are per Ccf, so compare them directly. A Ccf is one hundred cubic feet of natural gas, and an Mcf is one thousand (Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-29-01). Columbia quotes the market price per Mcf but bills the SCO per Ccf, and PUCO's chart follows the bill.

One month's rate cannot tell you whether a fixed offer is a good one. Take a made-up fixed rate of $0.776 per Ccf, midway between the lowest ($0.4809 per Ccf) and the highest ($1.071 per Ccf) default among the last twelve periods we hold for Columbia Gas of Ohio. These inputs are made up. They are not Ohio averages and not your usage.

The default was above that fixed rate in two of the twelve periods and at or below it in ten. The periods above it were centered in January and February. A count treats every period alike, but you do not use gas alike in every period.

Now add made-up usage: 140 Ccf in a period centered in November through March, and 20 Ccf in the others. Over the twelve periods you would have paid $620.96 for the gas at the default and $651.84 at the made-up fixed rate. That is $30.88 more at the fixed rate, before any monthly fee, which would add to its total.

Past periods do not predict the next ones. The test shows how much the answer depends on when you use the gas, which the chart's rate column cannot show.

Where do the links under Columbia's SCO box lead?

The filters work as our Apples to Apples guide describes. The price field on PUCO's chart for Columbia is in dollars per Ccf, the unit of the box. PUCO's note under the list says filtering applies to the XML and CSV export files; it does not mention the separate Excel export.

Four links sit under the box. One signs you up for Columbia rate change alerts from PUCO. The "Columbia Gas Rate Sheet" link opened Columbia's own CHOICE rate information page when we checked on October 1, 2026, not a rate sheet file. The other two open PUCO's chart archive and its SCO historical chart.

Columbia's page has a calculator that takes the SCO rate, a supplier's rate and your Ccf use. It also compares the SCO with the CHOICE transportation rate. Check which rates the calculator uses before you rely on its estimate.

What do Columbia's historical chart and archive add?

PUCO's SCO historical chart lists each period's rate in dollars per Ccf, in one table for each year. PUCO notes that historic rates are not indicative of future market conditions or prices. We hold 58 dated Columbia periods, starting December 2021. Each period's dates are printed in full, so read them rather than assume a calendar month.

The chart archive opens PUCO's Apples to Apples History Browser. You pick a date, a territory and a category, and it shows offers that were on the chart then. PUCO warns that those suppliers may no longer offer them and need not honor them, so use it for research only.

For our own record of the default, see Columbia gas rate history. The wider picture is on Columbia Gas of Ohio rates.

What does Columbia's chart leave out?

PUCO's chart is a snapshot of suppliers actively enrolling, not a list of everyone certified. The Apples to Apples guide above covers its limits, and Apples to Apples Ohio gas covers what an offer's rate leaves out.

Columbia's own CHOICE page lists current suppliers serving residential, commercial and industrial customers, so its list and the chart can differ. Columbia also says SCO customers are charged Ohio sales tax on their gas purchases, like CHOICE customers. The box does not mention tax, so check how your bill shows it.

What should you check before you pick a row on Columbia's chart?

Read three cells on every row before you read the price.

• Rate type and introductory price. Some rows show an introductory price for one month, with a details link, and a variable rate after it.
• Term and early termination fee (ETF). An ETF is the charge for leaving a contract early. Know the amount before you sign.
• Monthly fee. A flat fee weighs most in months when you use little gas.

Staying on the SCO can be the better choice when every fixed offer sits above the recent months on the historical chart, when a monthly fee or an ETF erases the gap at your usage, or when you may move before the term ends. PUCO says there is no deadline to shop, and it does not promise a lower bill (Energy Choice Ohio FAQs).

See the other territory guides: Apples to Apples Enbridge gas Ohio, Apples to Apples Duke gas Ohio and Apples to Apples CenterPoint Ohio. Our Ohio energy choice guide covers who can shop.