Propane Service

Some propane suppliers offer discount programs to their customers.  These types of programs can be marketed by some propane suppliers as money saving discount plans.   This section raises some concerns that propane consumers should be aware of before resting assured that a supplier discount plan is actually a money saving plan.

Before describing the propane price discount programs offered by some propane suppliers,  it is important to describe three key points related to customer discount programs:

1. Propane prices can range widely between suppliers.   One propane supplier may be charging $1.55 per gallon while another propane supplier in the same area may be charging $2.45 for the same type of service, for example.  As a result, a supplier that charges a base price of $1.55 per gallon without a program discount may be charging a lower price than the supplier with a base propane price of $2.45 per gallon after a 20 cent per gallon discount.  Without publicly posted current propane prices or independent supplier pricing research by a customer - consumers may not be aware of this significant price difference.
2. Most propane suppliers do not publicly post their propane price per gallon on their company website for public viewing and public comparison.  Therefore, the only way to find the difference in propane prices among various local propane suppliers is to conduct your own survey before each delivery.  Unfortunately, your propane price survey information to verify your propane price can have a very short useful life.  In other words, according to some propane supplier websites, propane prices change frequently.  As a result, many supplier websites indicate that it is impractical to attempt to post their current propane prices for their customers as the prices are frequently changing.  Therefore, without access to publicly posted propane prices – customers need to call each propane supplier to check propane prices again before all future propane deliveries.  Furthermore, following the end of a customer telephone price quote, the supplier may change the price again.  Hence, without publicly posted propane prices, consumers have no way of knowing when the suppliers prices change, which direction the price changed or by how much. 
3. Considering the previous two points, if a propane supplier indicates it is offering a discount of 5 cents per gallon for participation in a specific program – this is not enough information to compare supplier pricing if the suppliers non-discount base propane prices are not publicly displayed.  If one supplier is offers a discount of 5 centers per gallon for “Discount Program X”, and the next supplier is offering  a 20 cents per gallon discount for the same program, but charges 30 cents more per gallon for their base price before any discount programs, consumers do not have enough useful information to make an accurate propane price comparison without the ability to view both suppliers base propane price per gallon and the discount from the base price for each “discount” program. In other words, without publicly visible current propane prices, it is possible that a supplier representing a 20 cent discount per gallon for a program may be charging more per gallon than another competitor that does not offer a discount for the same propane program.  Moreover, since many suppliers communicate that propane prices change frequently, all of the propane pricing information that is outlined above may change 20 minutes after their propane price survey telephone calls, for example, and consumers would not know about the pricing change unless  they called each supplier again 20 minutes later. 

Considering the three points above, the only true way to compare multiple suppliers current propane prices after discounts is to publicly post the “before” current propane price without the discount applied – then publicly post  the “after” propane price after the discount for public comparison.  With this type of propane price information publicly visible, propane suppliers would have publicly visible  information to keep their propane price in line with their competitors - similar to gasoline stations with publicly posted gasoline prices for motorists to compare prices.   At the end of the day, consumers clearly benefits from suppliers publicly posting their propane prices as this creates transparency of supplier propane prices and aggressive competition among local propane suppliers to maintain competitive propane pricing.

Common Propane Discount Programs:

Auto Pay Plan Discount: This program will typically involve a customer setting up an ETF (Electronic Fund Transfer) arrangement that automatically forwards payment for recent propane deliveries.

Senior Discount: A discount for propane customers that are a minimum age.  The typical minimum age for this discount is 55 years of age.

Military Discount: This program typically offers a discount to active or non-active military personnel. 

Cash Discount: This program has several variations by supplier.  The program typically offers a discount for payment within 10 days of a propane delivery.

Auto Delivery Discount: This program offers a discount for participation in a program that allows the propane supplier to make automatic deliveries to a customer location.  See auto delivery discussion for automatic delivery program concerns.

Customer Owned Tank Discounts: Typically provides a discount to propane customers that own their own propane tank with the ability to call multiple suppliers and order from the one with the lowest current propane price per gallon.

Remember: Propane safety is always the highest priority for any propane fuel service application.  Contact your propane service provider for all questions regarding the safe use of propane fuel.