DTE Energy’s natural gas customers will spend less this January compared to last January as the company’s Gas Cost Recovery (GCR) price fell from $4.82 per 100 cubic feet (Ccf) last year to $3.75 this year. The price reduction is due to a decline in natural gas prices. DTE also buys natural gas in advance to protect customers against price spikes in the natural gas market.
Generally, natural gas is less expensive this winter compared to the 2022-2023 winter season, and customers are saving around $5 a month on average this year compared to their bills last winter.
What does GCR mean? As a regulated company, DTE ‘recovers’ the cost of buying natural gas supplies by billing customers what DTE pays for the gas, with no markup or additional cost.
DTE locks in natural gas prices up to three years in advance, which protects customers from sudden price spikes by smoothing out the highs and lows of supply and demand. DTE also buys more gas than customers use in the summer and stores it underground, so it is available when customers need it in the winter.
Customers who participate in Gas Customer Choice (GCC) and do not receive their natural gas from DTE Gas will continue to pay their contracted rate and will not see savings from this reduction. Natural gas customers can confirm who their natural gas supplier is by checking their natural gas bill, while also examining the other supplier’s rate to DTE’s rate. Customers may also compare the rates of all natural gas providers by visiting the State of Michigan’s Compare MI Gas website.
DTE encourages all customers to know who supplies their natural gas and how to read a bill.