Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2011 17:57:32 -0500
From: Mike Fox
Subject: re: Propane Rates
Bill Prentice wrote:
> One issue in switching is that the contractor who built my house
> had a rental tank buried in the yard… So to switch suppliers, I either
> have to buy this tank, or have a new tank installed. Live and learn!
I just went through a switch of providers this past fall, complete with the buried rental tank. I bought my tank, it cost me around $500 but I more than recouped that in savings on propane for this winter and am now free to explore the market for the best price every year, and I’ve also found that providers generally charge a dime a gallon or so less to people who own their own tanks. Also with a rental tank, when you switch you have to pay the old provider to come and the tank, plus pay them to pump out and dispose of any unused gas in it. So if you can swing it, I think buying the tank is the best long term choice.
Look at your contract with your current gas provider, it probably includes a price for buying the tank, which goes down each year of the contract (or at least did in my case). If you haven’t been in the contract for more than a few years, you may not find that path practical.
> Who do you use as a provider, and how is your service and propane rate?
This past fall I switched from Amerigas, which wanted to charge me $2.87 on a budget lock-in plan, to Ferrellgas which was $1.79 for a budget lock-in plan (would have been $1.89 if I rented a tank from them). The cost of these plans seems to vary pretty widely between providers, which I’m guessing depends on which one’s hedge desk made the right bets during the preceding summer.
Mike