Columbia Gas Rates in Ohio: The Default Rate, Your Bill and Your Choices

Which Columbia Gas rates in Ohio apply if you never shopped?

Columbia Gas of Ohio's default rate is the SCO. The block below shows the figure we hold, its period and where it comes from, and PUCO's chart is the source of record.

Columbia says it does not control or increase the gas supply charge and does not make money on that part of your bill. Its own SCO page posts the monthly price per Ccf. Each SCO supplier charges the same price, and a supplier's name appears on your bill.

Our Columbia gas price to compare page tracks the number and when it resets. Apples to Apples Columbia gas shows how to read PUCO's chart, and the natural gas rates guide compares all four utilities.

How have Columbia Gas rates moved over the past year?

Gas prices are seasonal, and PUCO says the NYMEX price can change dramatically from one month to the next (PUCO's SCO guide). In the last twelve periods we hold for Columbia, the lowest default was $0.4809 per Ccf (April 29 – May 28, 2026) and the highest was $1.071 per Ccf (January 30 – March 1, 2026).

Against a year earlier, today's default is down 13.7% from $0.6085 per Ccf (September 29 – October 27, 2025), the period covering most of the same dates a year earlier.

Our Columbia Gas of Ohio rate history page has the full series, and PUCO's historical chart is the source. Past rates do not predict the next period, and we give no forecast.

What is on your Columbia Gas bill besides the gas?

Columbia says your bill has two main parts, Gas Supply Charges and Delivery (Distribution) Charges. Supply is the gas itself, including buying it, moving it and storing it. Delivery pays to bring the gas to your home, and it includes a fixed customer charge each month.

Under Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-13-11, every bill shows the gas rate per Mcf or Ccf. A residential bill must also say it "may be useful to compare supplier offers with the standard choice offer (SCO) rate".

Columbia's bill guide shows the supplier's gas cost under "Supplier portion". Its CHOICE/SCO Reconciliation Rider is, in Columbia's words, an additional charge or credit on all gas consumed that recovers or passes back imbalances in gas cost. A balancing fee is billed directly to customers and has been removed from supplier rates, so an offer's rate does not carry it.

Columbia bills in Ccf, although it quotes market prices per Mcf. Fixed riders for infrastructure replacement and economic development add flat charges to each bill. Columbia says SCO customers pay Ohio sales tax on the gas, and PUCO's gas bill guide says gas bought under an SCO program is subject to sales or use tax. Columbia's SCO page shows an estimated bill that includes county-based sales tax and a gross receipts tax on the non-gas portion.

How does energy choice work for Columbia Gas customers?

Columbia's CHOICE program lets you buy your gas from a certified supplier instead of Columbia. Columbia still delivers the gas, reads your meter, does the safety checks and answers emergencies. Columbia says that if you do not join CHOICE your supplier stays the same, and your SCO price still changes each month.

Columbia says supplier prices come from a competitive market, so a supplier's price may not beat the SCO. PUCO says customers of most gas utilities can shop unless they are in PIPP Plus, and customers of municipal and co-op systems are outside the program (PUCO's SCO guide). Columbia's CHOICE page also has a calculator that takes your usage, the SCO rate and a supplier's rate.

Your supplier must send you a written notice forty-five to ninety days before a residential contract ends. If the contract does not renew by itself, that notice must say which service you will default to (Ohio Administrative Code 4901:1-29-10). Our natural gas rates guide explains how to return to the SCO.

Staying on the SCO can be the better choice when every fixed offer on PUCO's chart for Columbia Gas of Ohio sits above recent default periods, when a monthly fee or an early termination fee wipes out the gap, or when you may move soon. An early termination fee belongs to a supplier contract, not to the default. The risk to weigh on a fixed offer is a rate that turns variable once its term ends. Our guide to staying on the default covers the trade-off.

How does gas aggregation work in Columbia Gas territory?

Columbia describes two kinds of governmental aggregation, where a community buys gas for its residents. An opt-out program automatically enrolls eligible residents unless they choose not to be included. An opt-in program lets eligible residents sign up one by one. Columbia says a community must meet state requirements first, such as voter approval through a ballot issue.

Ohio's rules for gas aggregation, including the right to opt out every two years, sit in Ohio Revised Code 4929.26 and in our Ohio energy choice guide. Columbia says to contact your city or county office with questions about a program in your community.

Where can you read more about Columbia Gas of Ohio's gas rates?

Our Ohio energy choice guide explains the program across the state. The other gas utilities have their own pages: Enbridge gas Ohio, Duke Energy Ohio gas rates and CenterPoint Ohio gas rates, plus the Ohio gas rates overview.