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Effective July 1, 2025, Corning Natural Gas is converting to therm billing, which will improve the way you are billed. Instead of being billed for the volume of natural gas consumed, customers will be billed by converting volumes into therms. Therms account for the quantity of energy in the natural gas based on its Btu heating content. This change will align the way our customers are billed for natural gas with the value of the product, or energy, and will make customer bills consistent with the way natural gas is bought and sold in the wholesale marketplace. The Company purchases gas in Dekatherm (Dth) units, which is ten therms.
FAQ
What is a Therm?
A therm is a unit of heat energy, generally equal to 100,000 British thermal units, or Btus. It represents the amount of gas contained in a space equal to one hundred cubic feet.
The heating content of natural gas, or Btus, can change slightly based on the source of the gas and how it is treated before entering our pipelines. By changing to therms, we can more precisely account for those changes in Btu content. The Btu content of our gas can range from about 98,000 – 104,000 Btus per Ccf.
What are the benefits?
Bills will be based on the energy consumed which means that therm billing maintains fair and equitable bills for all customers. The EnergyGuide and Energy Star labels appearing on household gas appliances are based in therms so this change will make it easier for customers to compare appliances.
Is this a rate increase?
No, this is a billing conversion process, not a rate increase. You will now be billed based on the energy consumed per month, or therms, when previously you were billed based solely on the volume of natural gas consumed per month, or hundred cubic feet (Ccf). A Ccf is a volumetric measure of natural gas.
How will you convert my bill to therms?
Corning will multiply the Btu value of the gas in your area, or zone, by the volume of gas (Ccf) consumed that month to convert your gas usage to therms. Example: 1.04 Btu x 100 Ccf/month = 104 thm. In another example, if the Btu in your area was 0.98, your bill would reflect 0.98 Btu x 100 Ccf/month = 98 thm.
What zone am I in?
There are three zones in our service territory. Zone 1 is is the greater Corning area including Southport, Addison, Campbell, and Savona. Zone 2 is Bath and Hammondsport. Zone 3 is Virgil. Most of our customers will be in zone 1.
What is my Btu value?
The heating value of gas (Btu) varies across our system. Corning Natural Gas takes delivery of natural gas from several different sources including interstate pipelines, local pipelines, and local renewable natural gas sources. This can cause some customers to receive more energy in the form of Btus than others even though they may consume the same volume of gas.
Each service location will be assigned into one of three zones based on the physical configuration of the piping networks, and the gas delivery points into the piping networks. The Btu content of each zone will be determined by measuring the average monthly Btu content of the gas from the points of delivery in the zone. The Btu conversion factor will be updated for each billing period with the most recent Btu values of our gas supply by zone. This will accurately bill customers for the quantity of energy consumed.
Why does the Btu value matter?
The chemical composition of each supply differs according to the source of the supply, which means that the energy content, or heating value, also differs. A customer can consume higher or lower volumes of gas to deliver a given amount of energy because of a change in energy content of the gas supplied.
For example, to bake a cake with the same bake time and temperature, customers in areas that receive natural gas with lower Btu content use a slightly greater volume of gas than customers receiving natural gas with higher Btu content. However, both customers use the same quantity of energy. By using the Btu factors converted to therms, this variance is accounted for such that the lower Btu customer is not charged more for using a slightly higher volume of gas.
Will this affect my bill?
Despite the change to therm billing, the company expects very minor impacts to customer bill totals and amounts owed. Depending on the Btu value of the natural gas you consume, your bill usage may slightly increase or decrease. This is the result of customers being charged for the energy used and not the volume of gas. When Corning billed by the volume of gas a customer received, two customers could be billed differently for the same energy usage. For example, with volumetric billing, the customer who received gas with a higher energy content was billed less than the other customer who received gas with a lower energy content to use the same amount of energy.
Please keep in mind that there are other factors that influence increases or decreases in your bills, such as weather, thermostat settings, insulation measures in your home or business, the condition of appliances and buildings, and the monthly gas costs. The Btu value in each zone will be updated for billing, so if you receive gas with higher or lower energy content, your bill may slightly increase or decrease month to month.
