Propane

[SRD]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

One person making a small purchase will always pay more. A whole bunch of people ganging to make a purchase (one year or so in advance) will typically pay far less. No matter what the supply/demand is. The company I work for pays MILLIONS for diesel fuel a year... what do you think we do? Speculate, write contracts and hope for the best. One person buying retail shouldn't complain... y'all are competing for supply when supply is at it's lowest...

You nailed it. I'm still amazed at the power of our measly 75,000 - 100,000 gallon commitment or nod in a supplier's direction. I'm even more amazed that some of my neighbors don't participate in the arrangement and continue to pay higher prices.

[carlkeigley]

I've been offered a pre purchase discount before.
I just work out a deal for better pricing on 2 thousand
gallon tanks. So far, I've gotten through each winter.

But this next round I will probably fill both tanks and then
pay their 10% down on a pre purchase and just fill up
earlier if I don't need 2 full tanks later. That way I can
maintain the purchase price a bit longer..........LOL

[Glenn Baglo]

I donno. At the pace they are discovering and tapping natural gas in the U.S. and Canada, you may find you've paid too much.
BC government opened up the market for natural gas a few years ago, allowing more companies to sell it to home owners. It was their "private enterprise" initiative. It was the same gas, coming from the same source, traveling through the same pipes, but with a middle man that offered contracts.
A lot of people bought into it, due to some shameful marketing practices by the new companies, and because they thought they had been ripped off in the past.
Price of natural gas fell, due to new discoveries and more efficient practices.
These same people who went into long-term contracts, because they believe in private enterprise, were soon begging the government to get them out of the contracts.
I told more than one salesman to get lost, paid the prevailing rate for the gas ( which went up and down ) and saved a lot of money.
The gas company here, BTW, only delivers the gas. They pay the market rate for it and pass it along.
Never could figure out how a bunch of executives with big salaries could sell me gas cheaper when they had to buy it on the world market and deliver it to me through the same lines. But, some people, with tears in their eyes, are smarter than me.

[SRD]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

I donno. At the pace they are discovering and tapping natural gas in the U.S. and Canada, you may find you've paid too much.
BC government opened up the market for natural gas a few years ago, allowing more companies to sell it to home owners. It was their "private enterprise" initiative. It was the same gas, coming from the same source, traveling through the same pipes, but with a middle man that offered contracts.
A lot of people bought into it, due to some shameful marketing practices by the new companies, and because they thought they had been ripped off in the past.
Price of natural gas fell, due to new discoveries and more efficient practices.
These same people who went into long-term contracts, because they believe in private enterprise, were soon begging the government to get them out of the contracts.
I told more than one salesman to get lost, paid the prevailing rate for the gas ( which went up and down ) and saved a lot of money.
The gas company here, BTW, only delivers the gas. They pay the market rate for it and pass it along.
Never could figure out how a bunch of executives with big salaries could sell me gas cheaper when they had to buy it on the world market and deliver it to me through the same lines. But, some people, with tears in their eyes, are smarter than me.

I think that's the reason why our group does not enter into any contracts. We'll go along with the supplier's pricing for a year (if individuals decide to purchase) and then go through the bidding process again next year or whenever it suits us.

[Tom Trostel]

Yesterday, we had a home delivery of propane. Fill up was just under 300 gallons and price was $2.97/gallon. Texas may not have the shortage that others are dealing with. Our prices seem to follow the price of gasoline.

[Kevin A]

We volunteer with a group on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and I know that they have been having a terrible winter due to the cold and snow. Those homes that do have propane tanks are not able to have them filled due to high prices, so every piece of wood that's available is being burned.

We heat with natural gas in our 1800 sq. ft. home and just received our latest bill that covers January. This bill is the highest ever in our 8 years in Oak Park due to the extreme cold during the month. We hit $252 for gas in January and the electric bill was $125 (we run too many electric things concurrently but we depend on multiple technology devices due to our jobs). I just thought I'd mention this as a comparison to LP prices.

[carlkeigley]

All I can say, we ain't seen nothing yet.