Pick the right kind of gas plan before you pick a marketer

01 · The basicsHow the Georgia gas market works

If your gas comes through Atlanta Gas Light, which serves 1,733,258 of Georgia's 2,060,745 gas customers (PSC 2025 Annual Report), two companies are involved:

• Atlanta Gas Light delivers. It owns the pipes and the meter, reads the meter and answers leak calls. You cannot choose it or shop it.
• A marketer sells. It buys the gas, sets your rate and sends the bill. You choose the marketer, and you can switch. To start service at a home that already has a meter, AGL says you contact a marketer, not AGL.

02 · Your billWhere your money goes

Your bill has three parts:

1. The AGL base charge. Delivery, the same whichever marketer you use. On the PSC's October 2026 charts it is $39.71 a month for a typical home, or $580.53 a year.
2. The marketer's rate per therm, times the gas you use.
3. The marketer's customer service charge, a flat monthly fee. In October 2026 these ran from $3.45 to $9.95, and some marketers set yours by credit or payment history.

Worked through: 18 therms × $0.650 + $6.00 + $39.71 = $57.41. More on AGL's charges.

That is why the rate alone misleads. At the PSC's typical 641 therms a year, one cent per therm is worth $6.41 a year, while $1 on the monthly service charge is worth $12.

03 · Your optionsThe plan types, in one line each

• Fixed

  6, 12, 18, 24 or 36 months. The rate cannot change during the term. Most carry an exit fee, which ran from none listed to $300 on the October 2026 chart.

  Fixed rates

• Variable

  The marketer can change the rate monthly, with no cap and usually no exit fee. Standard variable rates ran from $0.940 to $2.359 per therm.

  Variable rates

• Introductory variable

  A low rate, $0.390 to $0.997 per therm in October 2026, for the first bill or first few bills, then the standard variable rate. A teaser, not a price.

  Advertised vs filed rates

• Senior

  Plans filed for customers 65 and over. Separately, AGL offers an income-qualified senior discount of up to $14 a month off its base charge, which you apply for.

  Senior rates

• Prepay

  You pay before you use the gas. Usually no credit check and no deposit; some are flat monthly bills with no published rate.

  Prepay plans

• Regulated Provider

  Not shopped. Group 1 serves qualifying low-income households; Group 2 serves people no marketer will take, and its 12-month fixed rate ($0.899) was above every standard 12-month market plan in October 2026.

  Regulated Provider

The full explanation of each is in Fixed, variable, prepaid and senior plans.

04 · This monthRates at a glance

Each dot below is one plan filed with the PSC for October 2026. The point is the pattern, not the winner: who is cheapest right now is in the live table.

05 · Your situationWhich describes you?

Pick the closest match. Each guide shows the plan type that usually fits, the math at current PSC prices, and the traps to avoid. None of them recommends a marketer.

• Homeowners and families

  “I own or rent a house heated by gas and stay put through winter.”

  Usually a 12-month fixed plan, locked before the cold months.

  Read the guide

• Seniors (65+)

  “I am 65 or older.”

  Apply for AGL's senior discount first, then compare senior fixed plans against standard ones.

  Read the guide

• Movers, renters and first-timers

  “I am moving, renting, or setting up gas for the first time.”

  Keep the term no longer than your lease; watch the service charge and exit fee more than the rate.

  Read the guide

• Tight budget or low income

  “Money is tight this winter.”

  Check the Regulated Provider's low-income group and LIHEAP before anything else.

  Read the guide

• Credit trouble or no deposit

  “I have been turned down, or I want to avoid a deposit.”

  Deposits are capped by PSC rule; prepay and the Regulated Provider are the fallbacks, and both cost more.

  Read the guide

06 · Before you signSix things to check

Ask for these, in writing if you can:

• The rate per therm, and whether it is fixed. If it is variable, ask how often it has changed.
• The monthly service charge you will actually pay. Some marketers file a range and set yours by credit check.
• The term and the end date. Write the end date down. Most fixed plans roll onto the marketer's standard variable rate when they end unless you act.
• The exit fee. On the October 2026 chart, fixed-plan fees ran from none listed to $300, and longer terms carried the higher fees.
• The deposit. For household service it cannot be more than $150 under PSC rules, and it is refunded after six on-time months.
• What happens after an introductory rate. Ask what the rate becomes after the first bill, and in which month.

07 · Do itHow to shop, step by step

Every month the Georgia Public Service Commission publishes a Marketers Pricing Index: four charts (fixed, variable, senior and prepay) listing every plan marketers filed, with a typical bill for each. It is the closest thing to an official price list, and the PSC does not rank or endorse marketers. How to read the index.

Our tables rank those filings by one formula: rate × 641 therms + service charge × 12 + AGL annual base charge ($580.53 in October 2026). Nothing else moves a row. Methodology · why 641 therms

1. Find your plan type. Use the guide for your situation above.
2. Open the live table. Start at the Georgia table for the cheapest plans this month, or go straight to fixed, variable, senior or prepay.
3. Compare on estimated annual cost, not rate.
4. Check the exit fee, term and area notes in the row.
5. Look the marketer up, then enroll. See the marketers page, or compare two side by side on the compare page. Our switching guide explains the monthly cycle: enroll by the 19th and the new marketer generally takes over on the 1st of the next month.

Your usage is not the PSC's 641 therms, so treat the annual cost as a fair way to compare plans, not a quote for your house.

08 · QuestionsCommon questions

The Georgia Public Service Commission does not rank or endorse marketers.