For both commercial and residential utility customers in the Washington Gas service region, though, now is the perfect time to think about choosing to save on natural-gas bills, by using our company's services.

Right now, Washington Gas utility customers (both residential and commercial) in DC and Maryland are paying right around a buck per therm for natural gas. It's a bit less in Virginia. Specifically, for the month of August, here's Washington Gas' per-therm rates for both commercial and residential (unless otherwise indicated):

Maryland: $0.9871 (+ $0.0148 balancing charge)

DC: $1.0101 (+ $0.0108 balancing charge)

Virginia: $0.9040 (+ $0.0099 balancing charge) for commercial; $0.9688 (+ $0.0101 balancing charge) for residential

As of today, our residential natural gas prices for the Washington Gas territory in Maryland, DC and Virginia is at $0.73 per therm at a guaranteed price for one year, and $0.79 for a two-year price guarantee. That's about a 25Z%-ish reduction in rates (depending on the numbers you use).

We can't give an exact figure for commercial natural-gas pricing, since these types of contracts are individually. We can say for certain, though, that commercial accounts will see similar rate reductions.

When it comes to buying natural gas with us, think of your purchase as insulation from future gas-price spikes. These spikes can be caused by all kinds of events, like a huge hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, uncertain economic news, or (heaven forbid) a terrorist attack. Prices went way up immediately after 9/11, for example.

Unlike electricity, natural gas is bought and priced monthly by utilities like Washington Gas. So they can't tell you how much gas will be in September. You can look up future pricing for electric utilities like Pepco.

And just like electricity, Washington Gas still delivers your supply to your home or business via its pipes, and you'll still call Washington Gas if you smell gas or have other service problems.

Believe it or not, there's a "green" aspect to our natural-gas offering. While there's plenty of debate about natural gas's "greenness," our supplier is making its offering a bit greener for our residential customers. That's because we'll very soon match carbon offsets to a percentage of our clients' natural gas usage. These offsets will help to improve air and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay region. This is something you can't get from your gas utility, and we're proud to bring it to you.

If you want to sign up for residential natural-gas service, you can visit our Residential page. For commercial service, visit our Commercial page to get the process started.