Currently, all other gas distribution companies in Maine bill on a per therm basis.  In addition, all natural gas customers in New Hampshire, including those in Unitil’s New Hampshire and Massachusetts gas divisions, also are billed on a per therm basis.  The conversion from ccfs to therms will make Unitil’s Maine gas division billing consistent with all other gas distributors in the region.

Ccf: A volumetric measure of natural gas. It represents the amount of gas contained in a space equal to one hundred cubic feet.

Therm: A measurement of energy, or heat, equal to 100,000 BTU (British thermal units). The same volume of gas may contain different amounts of energy.

BTU: The amount of heat it takes to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.

For residential heating customers, the customer charge will decrease from $25.11 to $25.06.  The distribution rate will change from $0.4599 for the first 40 ccf to $0.4555 for the first 40 therms. For usage over 40 therms, the distribution rate will change from $0.3520 per ccf to $0.3343 per therm.  The impact of this rate change on a typical residential customer’s annual bill is a decrease of about $1.20 or 0.2 percent. This change in distribution rates reflects the cost to provide service to customers while also accounting for decreases to those costs, like the recent federal tax cut.  

No. Meters will continue to measure customer’s natural gas consumption in ccfs. The conversion from ccfs to therms will be reflected on customers' bills, not the meter.

To convert your usage to therms, Unitil will multiply the BTU value of the gas by the volume of gas (ccf) consumed that month. Example: 1.05 BTU x 100 ccf/month = 105 therms. As another example, if the BTU value was 0.95, your bill would reflect 0.95 BTU x 100 ccf/month = 95 therms.

BTU values can change. The BTU conversion factor will be updated every month with the most recent BTU values of our gas supply.