Understanding Your Gas Bill
Estimated Gas Bill and the Return of Estimate
This brochure is designed to help you understand the process by which the Company trues up estimated gas bills in the following month’s bill. If you have questions after consulting the brochure, please call our Customer Relations Department on Oahu at 535-5933 (press 2), or your Neighbor Island office.
If you are a residential customer and receive gas through a meter, ordinarily your meter will be read every other month by The Gas Company’s meter readers (except for certain meters capable of being read remotely, which are read each month). Bills are sent out monthly. For months when meters are not read, gas usage is estimated based on your average use over the previous six months. Any necessary adjustments to the estimated gas usage are made on the next bill, after the meter has been read again. The process for adjusting your account on a subsequent bill by returning the estimate and rebilling based on actuals is described more fully in this brochure.
The brochure contains a line-by-line explanation of a sample return of estimated usage and rebill to true up the customer’s account for two months of gas usage. A sample of a utility estimated gas bill showing numbered entries is also provided for easy reference. A nonutility estimated gas bill would look almost the same, but would show gallons instead of therms.
1. Account No.—Refer to this number when speaking to a Company representative about your bill or account.
2. Class—This entry shows your billing classification, or the rate schedule that is used to compute your bill.
3. Service Type—Shows whether your service is utility (U) or nonutility (N), synthetic natural gas (SNG), propane (LPG), or high octane (H-LPG). NU-LPG Metered or NU-H-LPG Metered customers will have a different factor from the one shown in this sample bill, and usage will be shown in gallons rather than therms.
4. Meter ID—The identification number of your meter.
5. Last Reading Date and Read—Shows the date your meter was previously read, and the previous reading. Between the Last Reading Date and the Current Reading Date as shown on the sample bill, you would have received a bill with an “estimate” instead of a read shown under Current Reading Read. In other words, if the Last Reading Date shows as May 7 (item 5) and the Current Reading Date shows as July 12 (item 6), you would have received an estimated bill in the month of June. The estimated read for June would have been based on your average monthly therm (or gallon) usage over the past six months.
6. Current Reading Date and Read— Shows the date your meter was most recently read and the reading recorded at that time. In the case of a Return of Estimate, a previous month’s bill (for June) would have shown an “estimate” instead of a read under Current Reading Read. In this bill, where the estimate is being returned, the second line under Current Reading Read shows that the Company is returning the therms or gallons from the June estimate.
7. Read Days—The number of days between your last and current meter readings. The second line gives the number of days since the Estimated Read in the previous month (June in this example), which is the Net Days This Billing.
8. Factor—This number is used to convert the volume of gas used, as measured by your meter, to therms (or gallons, for nonutility metered service), which is the unit for billing purposes. The factor is based on the dial multiplier for your type of meter and the pressure and energy content of the gas.
9-11. Therms (Gallons for Nonutility Metered Service)—The number of units of energy you used since the last actual read (1 therm = 100,000 Btu), or in this sample bill, the actual number of therms used during the two-month span of May 7 through July 12. The number of therms (or gallons) actually used is computed by taking the current reading minus the last reading and multiplying it by the factor (item 6 – item 5 x item 8 = item 9). In this sample bill, item 10 shows a return to the customer of the 18.20 therms that were estimated in the June bill. Item 11 shows the difference between the actual, metered usage for the two-month span, and the estimated amount for June, or the additional therms the customer is deemed to have consumed for the 32-day current billing period (July).
12. Gas Charges—The number of therms (or gallons) (item 9) times the rate from the rate schedule that applies to the customer’s class of service (from item 2).
13. Fuel Cost Adjustment—Reflects increases or decreases from a base price of fuel that was set by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in the Company’s last rate case.
14. Monthly or Other Periodic Customer Charge—The minimum monthly charge for the current billing period and the previous, estimated billing period. This charge covers a portion of the Company’s costs for servicing your account.
15. Return of Estimate—The Company returns the previous month’s estimated Gas, Fuel Cost Adjustment, and Customer Charge (in this example, the charges from June) to the customer.
16. Total Current Charges—The total amount being billed for May through July. Item 16 is the total of items 12, 13, 14 and 15.
17. Previous Balance—The amount payable on your previous, estimated bill (for June, in this example).
18. Payments/Adjs.—Payments, credits, or adjustments to your previous bill.
19. Total Amount Due— Your Previous Balance minus Payments/Adj’s plus the sum of Gas Service Charges and Other Service Charges for the current period (item 17 – item 18 + item 19 = item 20).
20. Payment Due Date for Current Charges—Bill payment must be received by this date in order to avid finance charges.
21. Amount Paid—Fill in the amount you are paying.
The Gas Company Offices:
Oahu
TOPA
745 Fort Street, Suite 1800
Honolulu 96813
Phone: 535-5933 Fax: 535-5932
24-Hour Emergency Number: 526-0066
Hilo
945 Kalanianaole Ave., Hilo 96720
Phone: 935-0021 (24-hour) Fax: 969-9134
Kona
74-5564 Kaiwi St., Kailua Kona 96740
Phone: 329-2984 (24-hour) Fax: 329-9153
Kauai
3990 Rice Street, Lihue 96766
Phone: 245-3301 (24-hour) Fax: 246-9581
Maui
70 Hana Highway, Kahului 96732
Phone: 877-6557 (24-hour) Fax: 877-0758
Molokai
Ulili St., Molokai Industrial Park
Kaunakakai 96748
1-800-828-9359 (24-hour) Fax: 877-0758
Lanai
730 Lanai Ave., Lanai City 96763
1-800-828-9359 (24-hour) Fax: 877-0758
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