We're experiencing intermittent issues with customers checking and reporting outages. We're sorry for any inconvenience & ask that you try again if you receive an error message the first time.

We're experiencing intermittent issues with customers checking and reporting outages. We're sorry for any inconvenience & ask that you try again if you receive an error message the first time.

We're experiencing intermittent issues with customers checking and reporting outages. We're sorry for any inconvenience & ask that you try again if you receive an error message the first time.

We're experiencing intermittent issues with customers checking and reporting outages. We're sorry for any inconvenience & ask that you try again if you receive an error message the first time.

We're experiencing intermittent issues with customers checking and reporting outages. We're sorry for any inconvenience & ask that you try again if you receive an error message the first time.

We're experiencing intermittent issues with customers checking and reporting outages. We're sorry for any inconvenience & ask that you try again if you receive an error message the first time.

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As of: 10:39 PM, 11/18/24

Natural Gas Transportation Program

An Alternative Supplier Program for High Volume Natural Gas Users

The Natural Gas Transportation Program was created as an alternative natural gas supplier program for commercial and industrial customers, as well as large residential buildings. In this program, we will continue to deliver the natural gas to you. Your preferred gas supplier will contract with you to deliver the natural gas to us for your use and will separately invoice you for that gas. If you buy more gas than you use, the leftover gas will be held for your use in a future month.

A typical Gas Transportation customer may have one or more gas meters under their contract. Usually, at least one meter will have a yearly use of 8,000 Mcf or above. All of the accounts included in a Gas Transportation contract must be under the same ownership or management control. Customers that wish to enroll in Gas Transportation should be willing to provide their preferred supplier with use information throughout the month in order to match gas deliveries to usage and avoid penalties for buying too much or too little gas. Those customers willing to play an active part in the management of their natural may be able to save money on the cost and delivery of their natural gas.

In 2020, we introduced Group Transportation, a new program which offers savings with less day-to-day management. Group Transportation allows a gas supplier to manage the gas for multiple organizations under the same gas supply. This pilot program is available on a limited basis for customers of participating natural gas suppliers.

Have Questions? Answers to Many Frequently Asked Questions

Contracts and Amendments FAQs

Generally, it can take 45-60 days from the date of the original request until the account is set up in our billing system. Your contract will start on the first day of the month. You will receive your first bill approximately 7 days after that first month is closed. For more information, please see our Gas Transportation Contract Deadline Chart.
Depending upon the changes requested, it could take as little as 15 days for the amendment to be processed. Amendments will take effect on the first day of the month. For more information, please see our Gas Transportation Contract Deadline Chart.
Please contact your representative in Business Customer Care to discuss your plans and they will help you start a contract amendment. If you are unsure of who to call, please call 800-805-0490 or send an email to BusinessCustomerSO@cmsenergy.com.
The Authorized Tolerance Level is the percentage of your ACQ you are allowed to maintain in gas at the end of any given month without penalty. This gas can be used in future months. The ATL helps determine your monthly delivery fees. While 8.5% is standard, customers can elect higher or lower percentages depending upon how closely they wish to track their consumption and gas purchases. Customers can modify their ATL percentage one time every 12 months.
The Maximum Daily Quantity (MDQ) is calculated by reviewing the most-recent 36 months of activity. The highest month of consumption is determined and divided by 30 to get an approximate daily amount. This amount is then multiplied by 1.02 to convert from Mcf to MMBTU.
To calculate the Annual Contract Quantity (ACQ), we will review your use over the past 36 months. We will find the 12 consecutive months during that timeframe with the largest use amount and multiply that amount by 1.10 to convert from Mcf to MMBTU and provide a little extra room for unknowns.
The minimum term of Gas Transportation contract is 12 months. Customers must also provide a minimum of 12 months advance notice of their desire to return to Consumers Energy gas supply.
When changing gas or electric rates, customers are expected to select a rate which will meet their needs for the next year. This is necessary to ensure our calculations used to determine the expense and revenue for each rate code. We use these calculations during reviews with the Michigan Public Service Commission.
We regularly make predictions for the amount of gas needed to satisfy the needs of our customers. The projections do not include assumptions for gas used by Gas Transportation suppliers. By providing 12 months advance notice, we can better project our gas needs and thereby buy gas accordingly at the best price possible.
As suppliers enter and leave our program regularly, we are unable to provide a customer list. The State of Michigan does however maintain a list of gas suppliers approved to work in our service territory. Please go to: https://gaschoice.apps.lara.state.mi.us/?marketId=2 and follow the link to Consumers Energy Commercial Service area.

Gas Supply FAQs

If you wish for the transfer to be effective during the CURRENT month, the signed transfer form must be received by Consumers Energy NO LATER THAN 12:30pm ET on the next-to-last business day of the month.

If you wish for the transfer to be effective in a FUTURE month, the signed transfer form must be received by Consumers Energy PRIOR to the beginning of the month during which the transfer is scheduled to take place.
Yes. There is no limit on the number of suppliers you may have. Please remember that the total amount of gas nominated (Delivered to Consumers Energy for your use) on any given day is based upon your individual contract and NOT on the number of suppliers.
If you wish to transfer your remaining gas to another Gas Transportation customer, you or your supplier can submit a Request to Transfer Remaining gas balance form within 60 days of the termination. Otherwise, Consumers Energy will automatically issue a credit of $1/MCF for any gas remaining after the 60 days has elapsed.
A supplier list is provided on our webpage to assist you with this. There are times suppliers make changes without contacting us.
Gas prices fluctuate on a daily basis. The costs are tracked at standard delivery points and those prices are published nationally. This establishes the “market cost” for gas flowing into Michigan. The entry points for Consumers Energy are Michigan or Chicago LDC. At the end of the month, the prices are reviewed and the highest one day, single city gate price is selected as that month’s cost for Unauthorized Use Gas.

Billing and Account Management FAQs

Please call 800-805-0490 or send an email to BusinessCustomerSO@cmsenergy.com and discuss with them your needs. They will be happy to help.
Depending upon the circumstances of your request, Consumers Energy may or may not be able to waive these charges. Please contact Business Customer Care and explain your concerns to a member of our Business Customer Care solutions team. They can help explain the options and will submit a request on your behalf.
If you are unsure of who your account manager is, please contact our Business Center and they will put you in touch with him/her. Our Business Center can be reached at 800-805-0490. You can also send an email to: BusinessCustomerSo@cmsenergy.com
The Gas Transportation program was designed for customers to save money by purchasing the gas they will use from a third-party supplier. The customer receives a savings on their delivery costs since they are taking responsibility to bring in the gas they need – when they need it. Consumers Energy buys gas for its customer base. Our gas purchases are not intended to cover a Gas Transportation customer’s shortfall. For this reason, the tariff specifically spells out how Gas Transportation customers are charged for having insufficient gas supply. The tariff and our operating systems do not allow Consumers Energy to “loan” gas to customers and have it returned in a future month.