Should Georgia Energy Shoppers Buy Carbon Offsets?
Power provider Georgia Natural Gas® has hit a promising new milestone recently with their Greener Life program. Through this carbon offset initiative, the company has now counterbalanced 100 million pounds’ worth of carbon dioxide emissions! But should Georgia energy shoppers jump on the bandwagon? Is it the best thing for your household budget? And how much would it cost you, anyway? Let’s take a look…
What’s the Carbon Offset Cost for Georgia Natural Gas® Plans?
On the face of it, Greener Life plan is a steal. Every customer of Georgia Natural Gas® has the option of signing on, and it costs just $4.99 per month. Best of all, the first 6 months are absolutely free! Sounds great, right?
Well, yes – and no! Free is great, of course. But it’s not that simple. That’s because you can only access the Greener Life program if you sign on to a Georgia Natural Gas® plan. And their plans, relatively speaking, aren’t looking all that cheap right now. We’ll show you what we mean.
Is Georgia Natural Gas® the Best Natural Gas Provider?
Try this: take a look at all the natural gas rates available to Georgia shoppers. Then toggle around to filter for different plan lengths, and sort the results by price. You’ll see that for every category, the Georgia Natural Gas® rates are at least 10 cents pricier than the cheapest competitor.
Now, ten cents might seem like small change. But when you’re barrelling through dozens of therms a month, those ten cents will really add up.
Limiting Yourself to Georgia Natural Gas®: What Does it Cost?
This becomes clear when you look at the data for periods where people are really burning those therms. Take this last winter, for example. We pulled these average figures from the Georgia Public Services Commission:
December 2021: 134 therms per household
January 2022: 141 therms per household
February 2022: 108 therms per household
Winter total: 383 therms per household
Let’s see what you’d pay for those 383 therms on a Georgia Natural Gas® plan. We’ll use the 12-Month Fixed plan, which comes with a $1.039 per therm rate:
383 therms in winter x $1.039 per therm = $398
Pretty steep. But how does it compare? Well, the cheapest competing 12 month plan right now is the SureLock 12 plan from XOOM, with a 84.9 cents per therm rate:
383 therms in winter x 84.9 cents per therm = $325
With that rate reduction of just ten cents, XOOM’s plan will save you nearly $75 over winter compared with Georgia Natural Gas®. And the thing is, currently, you can always find a rate about 10 cents cheaper than anything they’re offering.
Is a Carbon Offset Plan Right For You?
So the Greener Life program is a great deal for sure. But $4.99 per month, following a free 6 month period, doesn’t accurately summarize how this initiative could affect your bills. You also need to factor in the savings you lose out on by tying yourself to a single provider.
Don’t get us wrong! We love that this gas provider is offering a plan that helps fight greenhouse gasses and climate change. And it’s great that this gas provider reached a significant carbon offset milestone! But with inflation biting into everybody’s wallets right now, don’t sign up unless it’s the right choice for your needs. So be sure to browse your other options at www.georgiagassavings.com.