Become a Supplier

Step 1

Complete the Supplier Information Form

Provide financial information as specified in the Tariff Section 20 - Aggregation Requirements, including:

• Current audited financial statements prepared in the last 12 months
• Most recent Annual Report, audited 10K and 10Q
• List of parent company and other affiliates and corporate structure
• Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of 3 trade references; and
• Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of banking institution contacts

Submit appropriate fees

• Submit $50.00 for TS program credit evaluation fee, and/or
• Submit $50.00 for Choice program credit evaluation fee
• Submit $250.00 for Choice program application fee

Please contact the Transportation Support Services Team at transportevaluations@nisource.com for accepted forms of payment.

Step 2

Undergo a UCC-1 search

If you're interested in becoming a Choice supplier, you will also undergo a UCC-1 search and will be required to amend any applicable liens in order to participate in the Choice Accounts Receivable Purchase Program. 

Step 3

Review credit evaluation results

Once the credit evaluation and UCC-1 search have been completed, you will be notified of the results and what (if any) collateral requirements are due and if any liens need to be amended.

All credit evaluations are good for 12 calendar months. If you fail to enroll Choice or TS customers prior to the expiration of the 12 months, you will need to undergo a new credit evaluation and pay the applicable credit evaluation fee.

Step 4

File Exchange

We conduct business with suppliers of natural gas through an encrypted file exchange. In order to become a supplier on our system, you must conduct system testing to ensure that the integrity of the system and customer data is safe and secure.

To move through the onboarding process, you must provide a key IT contact to conduct testing. Once the key contact has been received and the credit evaluation is complete, we will communicate the requirements and timeline of the required testing. Generally, the testing can take four to six weeks.

To participate in an upcoming file exchange testing, please submit your key IT contact information by the due date to start the process. Our testing due dates are listed below.

• January 2025: Submission due by January 6, 2025
• April 2025: Submission due by April 7, 2025
• July 2025: Submission due by July 7, 2025
• October 2025: Submission due by October 6, 2025

You can submit your information to transportevaluations@nisource.com.

*Testing takes place on a quarterly basis.

Step 1

Attend training

You must review our Choice Supplier training and attend a required touch point call with our Choice, Demand Forecasting, Supply and Capacity, and Nomination Specialists. During the call, team members will provide program updates and answer supplier inquiries.

Choice Supplier training

Required touch point call will be held on the following dates at 9 a.m. ET:

• January 8, 2025
• April 8, 2025
• July 8, 2025
• October 7, 2025

To participate in the required touch point call, send your request to Choice@NiSource.com. If, upon completion of the Choice Supplier training, you would like to submit a question via email in advance of the call, please direct all inquiries to the Choice Team.

Bill Ready Supplier training (Optional)

If participating in Bill Ready, the required touch point call will be held on the following dates at 9 a.m. ET:

• January 9, 2025
• April 9, 2025
• July 9, 2025
• October 8, 2025

To participate in the Bill Ready required touch point call, please notify the Choice Team via email at Choice@NiSource.com no later than 45 days in advance.

Step 2

Be approved to do business and deliver gas

You must be approved to do business in the State of Ohio, certified by the Ohio Public Utility Commission, and set-up to deliver gas on the following pipelines:

• TransCanada Columbia Gas Transmission LLC, 1-800-835-7191
• Panhandle Eastern Pipeline, 1-877-689-7800
• Tennessee Gas Pipeline, 1-713-420-3747
• Trunkline Gas Pipeline, 1-877-689-7800
• Nexus Pipeline, 1-844-589-3655
• Rockies Express Pipeline, 1-877-436-2253
• TransCanada Leach Express, 1-800-835-7191

Step 3

Complete and submit documents

After we've received notification that you have been licensed by the Ohio Public Utility Commission to participate to participate in the Choice program, you will need to submit the following documents electronically to your assigned representative:

• Ohio Retail Natural Gas Broker-Aggregator Registration Application
• Ohio Aggregation Agreement
• Ohio Billing Option Agreement
• Ohio Purchase of Receivable Agreement
• ACH Form
• W-9
• Ohio Rate Code Request Form
• Ohio Supplier Logo Agreement (optional) Quarterly Implementation
• Ohio Supplier Bill Message Agreement (optional) 
• Ohio Contract Portability Election Agreement (optional)
• Ohio Immediate Choice Election Agreement (optional)

Please do NOT fill out the date on any of these documents.

Step 4

Obtain access to Aviator

We use Aviator, an interactive web-based application, to enable you to perform services, such as arranging for the transportation of gas on our system.

• Aviator User ID's are required by any party seeking access to the Aviator website
• Aviator Master ID's are only required by parties seeking to assign additional User ID's for others in their company
• Use an Aviator Amendment to update your Aviator User ID or Aviator Master ID
• Use Master User ID Agreement-Attachment A for multiple PSIDs (Meters)

Step 5

Meet minimum requirements and send preliminary customer lists

You must meet minimum requirements of 100 customers or a customer group consisting of 10,000 Mcf. Once you have the required group of customers, email the customer list (including account numbers) to your assigned representative for review. The customer list must be received no later than the 10th of any given month to begin gas flow the following calendar month. 

Step 6

Enroll your customers via File Exchange

Once your representative has reviewed and approved the customer list, you may begin enrolling customers. You must have 10 customers (or corresponding customer group based on usage) enrolled and accepted via File Exchange no later than the 15th of any given month to begin flow the following calendar month.

Step 7

Review rules and regulations

You must adhere to the rules and regulations set forth in the Tariff, as well as the Ohio Revised Code.

Step 1

Be approved to do business

Step 2

Complete and submit documents

You will need to submit the following documents electronically to your assigned representative and mail the originals to the address provided above: 

• Ohio Aggregation Agreement - Option 1 - Customer is not liable to Columbia for any fees and charges billed to Agent, but not paid by agent.
• Ohio Aggregation Agreement - Option 2 - Customer agrees to be responsible for all Columbia fees and charges associated with providing transportation service to its nomination group, including any fees or charges billed by Columbia to Agent, and not paid by Agent.

This step is only applicable if you plan to aggregate customers.

Step 3

Obtain access to Aviator

We use Aviator, an interactive web-based application, to enable you to perform services, such as arranging for the transportation of gas on our system.

• Aviator User ID's are required by any party seeking access to the Aviator website
• Aviator Master ID's are only required by parties seeking to assign additional User ID's for others in their company
• Use an Aviator Amendment to update your Aviator User ID or Aviator Master ID
• Use Master User ID Agreement-Attachment A for multiple PSIDs (Meters)

Step 4

Review the Ohio Tariff

Review the Tariff to become knowledgeable of the TS program guidelines and services.