Decision time this week over the future of your ONG bill

Like the roulette wheel in a casino, you may be feeling lucky. News on Six reporter Rick Wells asks if you wanna play a little game with your monthly heating bill? <br><br>You could be a winner, or not.

Monday, October 21st 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Like the roulette wheel in a casino, you may be feeling lucky. News on Six reporter Rick Wells asks if you wanna play a little game with your monthly heating bill?

You could be a winner, or not. Here's the deal. ONG is offering the opportunity to lock in the rate you'll pay for natural gas for the next year. It's called the Voluntary Fixed Price Plan. Don Sherry with ONG:"the idea here is to give customers who want to do so a chance to lock in prices so they will know per unit of gas exactly what they are going to be paying through the winter months."

And the summer too causes this program starts November 1st and runs for a year. Will it be a long cold winter, or a short mild one? No one really knows for sure, that's why it's a bit of a gamble. The advantage is it may stabilize your month bill a little.

Speaking of the bill, what are all those little charges on our monthly bill anyway? Like the customer charge. Sherry:"thats a flat $6.50 for every residential customer." That's the fee for ONG providing a gas line to your house whether you use it or not. The delivery charge is the cost of getting the gas you do use to your house.

The temperature adjustment focuses on differences from what is normal. Sherry:â€ if it's a very warm winter it may increase your bill a slight amount if its a cold winter it may decrease your bill somewhat." Riders and fees are like a miscellaneous category. The Corporation Commission approves those, doesn't amount to much. Cost of gas, and city tax are self-explanatory.

The fixed price plan is a gamble on the weather. If it's a cold winter you're a winner a mild winter maybe not. Who says we don't have gambling in Oklahoma.