| Automatic Payment
Plan | The amount of your energy bill will be deducted from your chosen account
each month on the due date. |
| Biogas | Gas derived from the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter. |
| BudgetWise®
Billing | The customer's annual usage is estimated so the same amount is paid each
month. |
| Ccf or CCF | 100 cubic feet of gas |
| City Gate | The point at which natural gas enters the local distribution system. |
| Customer Service Charge | A portion of the customer's monthly bill that covers MichCon's cost for
meter reading, billing, gas leak emergencies and telephone service. This charge
remains on the bill whether a customer elects to choose another gas provider or
not. |
| Delivery Charge | A portion of the customer's monthly bill that covers MichCon's cost for
delivering natural gas to a business/residence. It includes pipeline
maintenance and storage. This charge remains on the bill whether a customer
elects to choose another gas provider or not. |
| Flared | The burning of natural gas at the well head. |
| Gas Cost Recovery (GCR) | Regulated by the Michigan Public Service Commission, GCR allows MichCon to
recover the cost it pays for gas for its regulated customers. Under the system,
MichCon does not make a profit on the sale of gas. There is no mark-up; the
cost of gas is a direct pass-through to customers. Also, the rate actually
charged customers might be less than the authorized maximum rate. |
| Gas Customer Choice | The name for MichCon's retail gas choice program. |
| Hydrocarbon | A family of compounds containing the elements carbon and hydrogen. |
| Kerogen | A hydrocarbon that is the chief constituent of oil shale. |
| Mercaptan | An odorant added to natural gas for safety detection purposes. |
| Mcf or MCF | 1,000 cubic feet of gas |
| Natural gas | A mixture of hydrocarbon gases and vapors occurring naturally in certain
geologic formations. The chief gas is methane. |
| Nomination | Volume of gas to be delivered to a distributor by customer or agent. |
| Peak demand | The maximum amount of energy (natural gas, etc.) delivered during a stated
period of time. |
| Porosity | The ratio of the volume of space to the volume of solid rock in a formation
indicating how much oil, natural gas, or water the formation can hold. |
| Reservoir | A subsurface, porous, permeable rock formation in which oil and/or natural
gas has accumulated. |
| Source rock | A rock from which oil or natural gas is generated from organic
materials. |
| Unconventional natural gas | Natural gas derived from sources other than conventional petroleum
formation. |
| Winter Protection
Plan | Provides seniors and low-income customers protection from shut-off between
December 1st and March 31st. |
