Save on Your Nebraska Energy Bill
What Is the Price of Natural Gas in Nebraska?
The average price of natural gas for commercial customers in Nebraska is $0.83 per therm, which works out to $0.86 per Ccf or $8.57 per Mcf, as of May 2026. Therms are the unit Black Hills Energy bills in, so that is the figure to compare against your own statement. Nebraska runs 30.3 percent below the U.S. commercial average of $1.19 per therm. Residential customers paid $1.50 and industrial customers $0.43 per therm in the same month, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Shopping this price is open to businesses in Black Hills Energy Rate Area 5, which is most of central and western Nebraska. Omaha, Lincoln and eastern Nebraska are served by other utilities and cannot switch suppliers.
| Customer class | Per therm | Per Ccf | Per Mcf |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial | $0.826 | $0.857 | $8.57 |
| Residential | $1.498 | $1.553 | $15.53 |
| Industrial | $0.425 | $0.441 | $4.41 |
| Citygate, the wholesale benchmark | $0.346 | $0.359 | $3.59 |
| U.S. commercial average | $1.185 | $1.229 | $12.29 |
How the units convert
Gas gets quoted three different ways and the difference is not small, so check which unit a quote is in before you compare it to anything. Black Hills Energy bills Nebraska in therms, suppliers quote in therms, and the EIA publishes in Mcf.
| Unit | Equals | In therms |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Mcf (thousand cubic feet) | 10 Ccf, or 1,000 cubic feet | 10.37 therms |
| 1 Ccf (hundred cubic feet) | 100 cubic feet | 1.037 therms |
| 1 therm | 100,000 Btu | the unit on your bill |
One caveat on the therm figures. Ccf to Mcf is pure volume and exact. Converting to therms is not: it depends on the heat content of the gas, and we use the EIA average of 1,037 Btu per cubic foot. Black Hills applies its own BTU factor that moves month to month, so your bill will land close to these numbers but not exactly on them.
Before you compare this to a quote: these are statewide EIA averages. Whether your business can act on them depends on your address, because only Black Hills Energy customers in Rate Area 5 buy gas competitively in Nebraska. Check whether you can shop.
Two things to know before you compare a quote against these. First, the residential figure runs high in low-usage months because fixed customer charges spread across fewer units, so a summer per-Mcf number is not a fair read on what gas costs. Second, the citygate price is the wholesale benchmark before delivery, at 41.9 percent of the delivered commercial price, and the commodity is the only part a supplier competes on.
Prices move every month. See the full 2026 history and six years of annual averages, or check when the selection window opens so you can lock a price instead of taking whatever the year hands you.
Nebraska Natural Gas Rates Today
Know your benchmark before the selection window opens. These are the latest statewide averages the U.S. Energy Information Administration publishes for Nebraska, covering delivered gas across all customers. Use them to sanity check a supplier quote, not as an offer.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Prices, Nebraska. Data through May 2026, released July 31, 2026. EIA publishes in Mcf; therm and Ccf figures are converted at 10.37 therms and 10 Ccf per Mcf. See the unit conversions. Statewide averages, not supplier offers. View the EIA table.
Nebraska Natural Gas Rate History
Nebraska gas is cheap by national standards and it is not steady, which is the whole argument for locking a price during the selection window. The EIA's own commercial series shows the swing.
Last 13 months
| Month | Per therm | Per Ccf | Per Mcf | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2025 | $0.799 | $0.829 | $8.29 | |
| June 2025 | $0.869 | $0.901 | $9.01 | |
| July 2025 | $0.963 | $0.999 | $9.99 | |
| August 2025 | $1.003 | $1.040 | $10.40 | |
| September 2025 | $0.978 | $1.014 | $10.14 | |
| October 2025 | $0.923 | $0.957 | $9.57 | |
| November 2025 | $0.851 | $0.883 | $8.83 | |
| December 2025 | $0.839 | $0.870 | $8.70 | |
| January 2026 | $0.869 | $0.901 | $9.01 | |
| February 2026 | $0.933 | $0.968 | $9.68 | |
| March 2026 | $0.980 | $1.016 | $10.16 | |
| April 2026 | $0.755 | $0.783 | $7.83 | |
| May 2026 | $0.826 | $0.857 | $8.57 |
Six year annual averages
| Year | Per therm | Per Ccf | Per Mcf | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $0.527 | $0.546 | $5.46 | |
| 2021 | $0.645 | $0.669 | $6.69 | |
| 2022 | $0.994 | $1.031 | $10.31 | |
| 2023 | $0.969 | $1.005 | $10.05 | |
| 2024 | $0.704 | $0.730 | $7.30 | |
| 2025 | $0.860 | $0.892 | $8.92 |
What this means for you. Commercial gas averaged $8.92/Mcf across 2025, up 22.1 percent from $7.31 in 2024. The 2022 spike to $10.31 is what an unhedged year looks like. A business that picked a fixed price before 2022 rode straight through it; one that let the deadline pass did not get the choice. That is the difference the selection window makes, and it comes around once a year.
Read this figure honestly. The EIA's Nebraska commercial price covers only about 46.1 percent of commercial deliveries in May 2026, and roughly 63 percent in winter, precisely because Choice Gas customers buy from third-party suppliers whose prices are not all captured. Treat it as a solid benchmark for the market, not as a census of what every Nebraska business pays.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Nebraska commercial natural gas price. Full monthly series, 1989 to present. Next EIA release August 31, 2026.
The Nebraska Choice Gas Selection Window
This is the part that costs Nebraska businesses money, and it is entirely avoidable. Choice Gas is not a switch-anytime market. There is one short window each spring, and if you miss it your price for the next twelve months gets decided without you.
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Late March: your packet arrives
Black Hills mails Choice Gas packets around March 26, with every participating supplier, your customer number and the deadline for your account. Do not throw it out with the junk mail; that customer number is what you need to enroll.
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February: the agricultural window
Agricultural accounts run on an earlier calendar. In 2026 the ag selection period was February 5 to February 18, 2026, with an extended deadline through February 19 to March 6, 2026. If you farm, your deadline is two months before everyone else's.
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April: the commercial window opens
The 2026 commercial and residential selection period ran April 2 to April 22, 2026, with extended deadlines through April 22 to May 9, 2026. Roughly three weeks, once a year. Selection dates shift slightly each year. Confirm before the 2027 window.
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Compare and select
Suppliers may only start marketing once the window opens, so offers land all at once and expire together. Enroll online at choicegas.com, through a supplier, by mail, or by phone at 888-890-5554.
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June 1: your price starts
The program year runs June 1 through May 31. Whatever you locked in April applies to every therm you burn through the following May, including next winter.
Miss it and you get priced by default. Customers who make no selection are rolled over or assigned a supplier, and the price is determined within 15 days after the selection period ends. Read that again: the window shuts, and only then does someone else set what your business pays for gas for a full year. Nothing about that is illegal or unusual, and it is still a bad way to buy energy.
Compare Nebraska Choice Gas suppliersNebraska Choice Gas Suppliers
Eight certified suppliers took part in the 2026 program. Every one is licensed by the Nebraska Public Service Commission and had to clear financial, managerial and technical review to get there, so the floor is solid. Above that floor they compete on price, structure and term, which is where your comparison happens.
Public Alliance for Community Energy (ACE)
The only community-owned supplier in the program, and a participant since it began.
Constellation
One of the longest-running participants, serving homes, businesses and farms across roughly 60 Nebraska counties.
WoodRiver Energy
Offers fixed, index and bundled monthly price options with terms up to three years for commercial accounts.
Legacy Natural Gas
Participates in both the Nebraska and Wyoming Choice Gas programs.
Black Hills Energy Services
A separate licensed supplier owned by the same parent as the utility. The PSC bars Black Hills Energy from giving it any preference.
The roster changes from year to year. The Nebraska Public Service Commission keeps the authoritative list of participating suppliers: view the current CNGP list.
See what this means for your type of businessChoice Gas Price Options for Nebraska Businesses
Suppliers compete on structure as much as on the number. Pick the structure that matches how your business actually plans, then compare prices inside it. Comparing a fixed quote against an index quote tells you almost nothing.
| Option | What it means for your business |
|---|---|
| Guaranteed fixed price | One agreed price per therm for the whole term. The budgeting choice, and the one that took the sting out of the last few winters. |
| Bundled monthly price | Commodity, delivery, fees and taxes rolled into one consistent monthly amount for the term. Maximum predictability, least visibility into the parts. |
| Index or market price | Tracks the monthly market. Cheapest when gas is cheap, and fully exposed when it is not. |
| Multi-year fixed | Up to three years for commercial accounts, against two years residential. The strongest reason to be a business in this program. |
The commercial advantage is term length. A Nebraska business can lock gas for up to three years while a household is capped at two years. If you are budgeting a restaurant, a hotel or a processing plant through two more winters, that extra year of certainty is worth more than a fraction of a cent per therm.
Nebraska Business Types That Gain the Most
Gas spend scales with how much heat, hot water or process load your operation runs. The bigger that number, the more a better commodity price is worth, and the more a multi-year lock protects you.
Small business
- Restaurant
- Bakery
- Laundromat
- Salon
- Car wash
- Convenience store
- Auto shop
Larger commercial
- Hotel
- Hospital
- School district
- Grocery store
- Nursing home
- Church
- Fitness center
Industrial and ag
- Grain elevator
- Ethanol plant
- Meat processing plant
- Irrigation operation
- Feedlot
- Food processing plant
- Manufacturing facility
Nebraska's industrial gas load is heavier than its population suggests. Ethanol plants, meat processing, grain drying and irrigation put serious therms through Rate Area 5 meters, and those accounts have the most to gain from a well-timed multi-year lock.
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Agricultural Choice Gas in Nebraska
Agriculture gets its own selection period, and it lands two months before everyone else's. If you run irrigation, grain drying, a feedlot or greenhouse heat on an agricultural gas account, your deadline is in February, not April, and missing it defaults you the same way.
2026 agricultural window: February 5 to February 18, 2026, with an extended deadline through February 19 to March 6, 2026. The commercial window did not open until April 2 to April 22, 2026, so an operation with both a shop account and an ag account has two separate deadlines to track.
That split catches people out. A farm with an office or shop on a commercial meter and irrigation on an agricultural meter has to make two selections on two calendars, and the ag one comes first while you are still thinking about spring planting. Put both on the calendar in January.
Can Your Nebraska Business Shop for Natural Gas?
Nebraska gas choice is drawn on a narrow footprint, so it is worth confirming which side of the line your building sits on before you plan around any of the prices above.
If Black Hills Energy serves you in Rate Area 5, you do not have the option of buying gas from the utility. Black Hills delivers it, but it does not sell it. Every business account in Rate Area 5 buys the commodity from an independent supplier. Shopping is not something you opt into here; the only real choice is whether you pick your supplier and price, or one gets assigned to you after the deadline passes.
You can shop if
- Black Hills Energy delivers your gas, and
- your service address sits in Rate Area 5, the territory formerly served by SourceGas and Kinder Morgan
- Roughly sixty of Nebraska's ninety-three counties, concentrated central and west
You cannot shop if
- Black Hills Energy customers in eastern Nebraska
- NorthWestern Energy customers
- Municipal utility customers, including Metropolitan Utilities District in Omaha
Not sure which side of the line your building falls on? Black Hills confirms eligibility at 877-245-3506, and it takes about two minutes. Worth doing before you plan around it either way.
See the selection window and deadlinesHow the Nebraska Choice Gas Program Works
Most Nebraska businesses reading this have made a Choice Gas selection before, so the mechanics are down here as reference rather than up top. If you are new to a Rate Area 5 building, or you have always let the packet roll over, here is the whole thing in one place.
The short version, for anyone who wants it: Black Hills Energy runs the pipes at regulated delivery rates, and a Certified Natural Gas Provider sells you the gas itself at an unregulated price. You compete the second half; the first half is identical whoever supplies you.
Your supplier competes on
- The price of the gas commodity itself, per therm
- Fixed, index or bundled monthly price options
- Term length, up to three years for commercial accounts
- Service, billing detail and account support
Black Hills Energy keeps
- Physical delivery of the gas
- Meter reading
- Your monthly bill
- Emergencies and service issues
- Regulated delivery and customer charges
One bill, either way. Black Hills Energy bills you for both delivery and your supplier's commodity charge, then pays your supplier. You get one bill. Your supplier's charge shows up as a line item on the Black Hills statement you already get, so switching does not add paperwork, a second invoice, or a second company to chase.
Suppliers must be certified by the Nebraska Public Service Commission and meet financial, managerial and technical standards before they can sell a therm in Nebraska. Their prices are not regulated, which is the whole reason comparing them is worth your time. See how Black Hills Energy fits in.
Nebraska Commercial Natural Gas Questions, Answered
What is the current price of natural gas for Nebraska businesses?
Commercial customers averaged $0.83 per therm in May 2026, which is $0.86 per Ccf or $8.57 per Mcf, about 30.3 percent below the national commercial average. Therms are what Black Hills bills in. That figure is a statewide benchmark for judging a supplier quote, not an offer, and it moves every month.
Can my Nebraska business choose its natural gas supplier?
If Black Hills Energy serves you in Rate Area 5, not only can you, you have to. Rate Area 5 covers the territory formerly served by SourceGas and Kinder Morgan, roughly sixty counties across central and western Nebraska. Black Hills does not sell the gas commodity there at all, so every business account buys from an independent Certified Natural Gas Provider. Our marketplace is designed to help you find the best price among them.
What happens if I miss the selection window?
You still get a supplier, you just do not get to pick it or the price. Eligible customers who make no selection are rolled over or assigned, and the price is set within 15 days after the selection period ends. That is the single best reason to mark the calendar: the market closes, then someone else prices your gas for the next twelve months.
Who is not eligible for Choice Gas in Nebraska?
Black Hills Energy customers in eastern Nebraska, all NorthWestern Energy customers, and anyone served by a municipal utility, which includes Metropolitan Utilities District in Omaha. If you are not sure which side of the line your building sits on, Black Hills confirms eligibility at 877-245-3506.
Does Black Hills Energy still deliver my gas?
Always. Black Hills owns the pipes and the meter, reads it, handles emergencies, and bills you at regulated delivery rates no matter which supplier you pick. Black Hills Energy bills you for both delivery and your supplier's commodity charge, then pays your supplier. You get one bill. For a gas emergency call Black Hills at 888-890-5554, never your supplier.
How long can a Nebraska business lock in a gas price?
Longer than a household can. Commercial accounts can take terms up to three years with some suppliers, against two years on the residential side. For a business trying to budget, a multi-year fixed price is the most valuable thing this program offers.
How many suppliers can I choose from?
Eight certified suppliers participated in the 2026 program. Every one has to be licensed by the Nebraska Public Service Commission and meet financial, managerial and technical standards. Their prices are not regulated, which is exactly why comparing them matters.
Is Black Hills Energy Services the same as my utility?
No, and this trips people up. Black Hills Energy Services is a separate licensed supplier that happens to share a parent company with the utility. The Public Service Commission expressly bars Black Hills Energy from giving it any preference, and you get identical delivery service whichever supplier you pick.
Do agricultural accounts follow the same schedule?
No, agriculture gets its own earlier window. The 2026 agricultural selection period ran February 5 to February 18, 2026, well ahead of the commercial window. If you run irrigation, grain drying or a feedlot on a separate agricultural account, your deadline comes in February, not April.
Will switching suppliers save my business money?
Not automatically, and any site that promises a percentage is guessing. Delivery charges are set by the Public Service Commission and are identical across suppliers, so the commodity is the only competitive piece. What comparing reliably buys you is a price you chose over a price assigned to you, and the option to lock it for multiple years.
Sources and Program Notes
Program details current as of the 2026 Choice Gas program year, which runs June 1 through May 31. Selection dates shift slightly each year; confirm against the Commission or Black Hills before relying on them. Utility Rates is not a Certified Natural Gas Provider and does not set gas prices.
- Nebraska Public Service Commission, Nebraska Choice Gas Program FAQ and definitions. psc.nebraska.gov
- Nebraska Public Service Commission, 2026 Choice Program Information Sheet and participating supplier list. Current CNGP list
- Black Hills Energy, Choice Gas Program administration, selection methods and rollover terms. blackhillsenergy.com
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Nebraska Natural Gas Prices. Data through May 2026, released July 31, 2026. eia.gov
- Eligibility confirmation: Black Hills Energy, 877-245-3506. Gas emergencies: 888-890-5554.
