HOW TO READ YOUR BILL

From the early days, gas utilities measured and sold gas by volume. Most gas meters have 4 digits, the smallest of which shows 100 cubic feet, or one CCF.

All fuel prices increased dramatically in the 1970’s. Many gas pipelines and utilities switched to selling gas on the basis of heating value. One British Thermal Unit (or BTU) is the amount of heat needed to raise one pound (pint) of water by 1° F. One BTU is about the energy produced by burning a wooden match.

An electrical meter shows kilowatt-hours but there isn’t a practical way to directly measure the potential energy of gas. Gas utilities measure volume and calculate heating value. In Eastern Kentucky, most gas companies sell gas by the Thousand cubic feet or “MCF”. One MCF of typical natural gas at sea level will burn to produce about 1,000,000 BTU.

But most pipeline gas in Eastern Kentucky has small amounts of propane and butane and is “hotter” than normal gas. Typical Frontier gas averages about 1,200 BTU per cubic foot, or 1.2 Million BTU per MCF (one MCF is equivalent to about 13 gallons of propane).

Your monthly Frontier bill includes a fixed monthly charge which pays for utility operations and meter readings; if you use at least one MCF in a month, all MCFs are charged at the same rate.

A sample KFG bill and a calculation breakdown:

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