Commercial energy / Buyer guidance
Choose a gas contract term by the delivery months it covers
Evaluate gas term length using winter-weighted quantities, contract dates and an explicit remaining-season example.
Count the seasons, not just the months
Write down the actual first and last delivery dates before comparing gas terms. Two contracts with different start dates may cover different heating seasons even if they have the same stated length. For a heating-dependent account, use the business's documented monthly forecast rather than assigning equal consumption to every month. Production-driven accounts need their own operating schedule; do not impose a heating-only pattern on them.
Ohio's gas supplier questions include the period a rate remains effective. They do not set a recommended commercial term. The season-by-season comparison here is independently constructed.
Align the term with facility and service obligations
Record the lease and equipment plan, expected ownership changes, remaining transport arrangements and who is authorized to commit future consumption. Ask what happens if a boiler is replaced, production stops or a site closes. Identify whether the price applies to actual requirements or specified volumes and whether the proposed term has different quantity or balancing conditions from the shorter alternative.
For a shorter supply term inside a longer planning horizon, leave the uncovered months as unknown prices. A current index or forecast can be a labeled scenario input; it is not an executable future offer. Check how renewal timing and enrollment requirements interact with the intended start. The signed dates and relevant utility process should drive the calendar.
Worked example: a short initial period leaves the winter unresolved
Hypothetical twelve-month planning horizon: the first six months require 1,000 MMBtu and the final six months require 5,000 MMBtu. A six-month commodity offer is $4.00/MMBtu for the first period only. A twelve-month offer is $5.00/MMBtu throughout. Assume identical commodity scope and no fees for this simplified comparison.
The annual offer totals 6,000 × $5.00 = $30,000. The short offer's known initial cost is 1,000 × $4.00 = $4,000. The unknown second-period price that makes the two paths equal is ($30,000 − $4,000) ÷ 5,000 = $5.20/MMBtu.
At an invented second-period price of $4.50, the short path totals $26,500. At $7.00, it totals $39,000. Giving the cheap initial period half the weight merely because it lasts six months would misstate the exposure: most consumption occurs in the uncovered period. Neither later price is predicted, and no actual available offer is represented.
Keep commitment and budget results together
Alongside the modeled total, show when the next decision must be made and which volumes remain unpriced. Ask what operational event would require a revised forecast and how the supplier must be notified. If the longer offer extends beyond a likely property sale, obtain written assignment or exit treatment before treating the extra months as useful protection.
The gas early-exit guide covers remaining-volume comparisons. The renewal planner can record confirmed dates but cannot determine contractual notice requirements.
Sources and limits
The regulator source supports asking about duration. The quantities, rates and threshold above are invented. Delivery, basis differences, balancing, taxes and other contract conditions require separate comparison; the example establishes no best season or guaranteed saving.