Meter Reading

The Meter Reading section provides information about your current and past usage.

Current Reading
This represents the current reading of your gas meter, which is determined by one of three methods.

• An Actual Meter Reading means your reading was taken by a company meter reader or recorded by an automated device.
• Customer Reading means you reported your meter reading to us. (Learn how to read your meter.)
• An Estimated Meter Reading means Nicor estimated your reading based on previous usage and the weather. Every other month, we estimate most meter readings. Then, on your next bill, any difference from your actual use is automatically corrected when we take an actual meter reading.

Previous Reading
The reading of your gas meter in the last reading period.

Difference
The difference between the previous reading and the current reading.

Conversion to Therms
For billing, your natural gas use is converted from cubic feet to therms, the basic unit for measuring the amount of natural gas you use. One therm is equal to 100,000 British thermal units (Btu). To determine the amount of therms, we multiply your use by the Btu factor. This factor gives the actual heat value of the gas we supply. The Btu factor may vary from month to month, so please refer to your bill for the actual factor being used.

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