What is SSO?

The Standard Service Offer is the commodity rate charged to customers who are ineligible to participate in the Energy Choice program or in a governmental aggregation program.

It is also the default rate for up to two billing periods for new customers who haven't chosen an Energy Choice supplier, or those customers whose Energy Choice contracts have expired.

Who is billed at the SSO rate?

Customers are billed at the SSO rate if they are ineligible to participate in the Energy Choice program or in a governmental aggregation program because they are enrolled in the Percentage of Income Payment Plan Plus (PIPP) program or the Graduate PIPP program, or they have arrearages and have broken more than one payment plan in the previous 12 months.

Also, new customers are billed at the SSO rate for up to two billing periods, after which residential customers and small nonresidential customers with annual usage up to 200 MCF will be assigned to a retail supplier at the Standard Choice Offer (SCO) rate if they have not chosen a supplier on their own.

In addition, nonresidential customers with annual usage over 200 MCF whose contracts have expired or that have not chosen a retail supplier, will be placed on the SSO for up to two billing periods and then will be assigned to a retail supplier at the supplier's Monthly Retail Rate (MRR).

How is the SSO rate determined?

The SSO rate changes monthly based on the monthly closing price of natural gas on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), plus a Retail Price Adjustment.  The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) oversees an annual auction process that determines the Retail Price Adjustment, which reflects the suppliers' cost of delivering the gas from wherever it is produced to Dominion East Ohio's system for delivery to customers.

Does the SSO rate include a profit for Dominion Energy Ohio?

No. The SSO rate billed to customers is the same price at which Dominion Energy Ohio purchases gas from the SSO suppliers. Dominion Energy makes no profit on the natural gas portion of the bill. Instead, Dominion Energy recovers its operating costs and a return on its investment in pipelines and facilities through its delivery charges.

Will customers see changes in their service from Dominion Energy Ohio?

No. Dominion Energy continues to provide its current services, such as billing, meter reading, emergency response and answering bill and service questions.