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The Kitchen Table

How are your propane bills doing?

18 years ago

I just got a bill from my propane gas supplier that read, "Welcome to your new budget plan!" What a welcome . . . my monthly budget payment, which was $160 two years ago and $172 last year, has shot up to $249. My use of propane has not increased; on the contrary, my gas dryer died last year and has not been replaced.

I wonder how this price increase is justified. As far as I know, there's no propane gas cartel in the Middle East pulling the strings.

Have your propane bills gone up, too?

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Comments (9)

grammahony
18 years ago
I don't have propane, but my utilities bill (gas, electricity, and water/sewer) went from $197.00 a month in 2007, to $225.00, starting this month. $28.00 a month increase/$336.00 a year. Ouch. Guess I'll be pulling out the sweat suits this winter. I thought my bill would go down after Haley and the kids moved to their own place. So I was expecting to see a small decline. Not so. :(
Leslie
cynic
18 years ago
I have natural gas and for years, even with the increases, $1.25-$1.50 per therm was pretty common, which isn't bad to me. But my last bill it was up to $1.80 and this is summertime use. I'm going to batten down the hatches and prep for a long winter of bills. Hopefully it'll be a mild winter. It's been a relatively mild summer here so far. maybe it'll carry on.

My cousin gets a summer fill on his propane and contracts the price for winter. By doing this in the summer he gets a much better price. They increased it but he decided it wasn't cheap enough. I think he may regret his decision.
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caflowerluver
18 years ago
We have a propane tank and everything in the house is gas. The price has gone way up. It is going to be really bad this winter when we turn on the heat again.
Clare
joyfulguy
18 years ago
Mine seem to be non-renounceable.

Actually, not "propane" ones ... but furnace fuel is pretty well the same.

It's the same old corporate game ...

... charge whatever you can get away with.

Makes it even nicer if the victims have no choice.

ole joyful
jemdandy
18 years ago
I use natural gas. This bill itself is faring well - getting bigger all the time. LOL. My wallet, howver, is getting sick. I use gas for water heater, furnace, cookstove, and clothes dryer. I'm expecting a $400 bill for Jan and Feb each next winter. Its enough to make one consider moving. My income is fixed.
okwriter
18 years ago
We are total electric (we do have a wood burning fireplace with a blower in the center of the house). We heard our electric rates were going up, so I opened the bill this week with trepidation, but our average payment for the month is the same as last month, about $137.

We are so fortunate and so grateful. I wish I could ease the pain of those with high utilities---especially those on a fixed income.
iowagirl2006
18 years ago
I pre-book my propane. (Or should I say proPAIN, lol) - the price always spikes here in September-October. The propane use goes way up then due to grain driers. Once harvest starts -so do the grain driers - and most of them run off propane.

I pay for mine per fill.
ronf_gw
18 years ago
The cost of propane has gone up here, also. But, we heat primarily with wood. The tank is filled once each Summer and that is plenty for the year. It was rough last week splitting and stacking wood for the Winter when it's 85 degrees outside but I sure appreciate the cozy, warm, home in the middle of Winter.
Old chinese proverb: He who splits his own wood is warmed twice.

Ron
alisande
Original Author
18 years ago
The more I think about this, the crazier it is. My propane use consists of a gas range and gas hot water heater. Plus in the winter I heat a room in the barn to 55Âº. I'm the only person living here, the only person cooking on the stove (and I almost never bake anymore), the only person using hot water. Yes, I do shower regularly, but I run the dishwasher less than once a day. And for this I'm paying $250 a month???

I don't even want to think about my heating oil bills!

I can see I'd better get busy supplementing my fixed income.

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