Anybody locking in Propane price for winter?

[40Kchicks]

This year the price I’m getting for my poultry farm is 1.07, last year it was .93 and they year before that was .75. Residential customers pay about 50 cents more a gallon.

Eric

 

[viking]

This will be my first time locking in a price. Our tank is only 350gal. but we own it , it came with the house when we bought it otherwise I would prefer a larger one. Owning the tank saved us .05 cents a gallon though. I locked in 800 gallons @ $1.34 that is after fall fill-up. Fall fill-up will cost .05cents less so thats 1.29 to fill the tank. Last year we went through 610 gal after fall fill-up. Last year was a mild winter, that's why I increased for this year.

 

[buckle97]

<font color="blue"> (Residential customers pay about 50 cents more a gallon.) </font>

Eric, I am curious about that. Is it because you are a business account or because of the quantity you buy?

Lawrence

 

[JerryG]

Eric,
Residential customers are also charged more by my company. Last year I contracted 20,000 gallons and used 18,000, How much do you have to contract for your farm? I get mine from my poultry company's gas company.

 

[beenthere]

Wonder why residential pays so much more?

 

[Junkman]

I am paying 15 cents over the Selkirk price and have had that deal for the past 3 years. They can cheat me on the Selkirk price, but I can check that to verify that they haven't. I have never had a problem with my gas supplier. For those that don't know what "Selkirk Price" is, it is the wholesale price. If you would like to read the industry forecast, click here........

 

[rozett]

Fuel suppliers have always provided a pricing structure based on volume. My primary heating fuel is oil. But I have dual 275-gallon tanks. So when I purchase fuel, I get the usual 10 cent/gallon discount for paying cash and another discount (about a nickel) for buying bulk (500 gallons at a time). I also have three propane tanks on the property. One each for the pool heater and standby generator, and one for the kitchen stove & two room heaters. But my consumption rate for propane is pretty low and therefor I pay top $$. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[bebster]

Junkman, you're a wealth of information!
Just put in a 1000 gallon propane tank for the barn (picture attached), and will fill it as soon as it's inspected.
Looks like July is the best month to buy propane generally. Would you agree?
I'm not sure I have the time or experience to optimize that exact date to purchase, but would like to pick a month to buy and make sure I fill-er-up each year at the low point, and am trying to figure out when to mark my annual calendar. Thanks.

 

[40Kchicks]

Lawrence

I also assume that the price difference is because of the volume used. I use about 12,000 gallons a year but I buy in a group of other growers. Together we use lots of gas. My statement of .50 cents extra is just a guess based on what I was buying gas for and what my friend was filling his house up for so take that for what it’s worth (not much). /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Eric

 

[beenthere]

When you first brought this up, I was wondering why I hadn't rec'd a contract for locking in a price. Yesterday ours arrived. Locking in 500 gal at 1.18. Going to try to lock in another 250 or 500 gal at that price, which means the gas supplier will have my money to work with (I assume this is the plus side for the supplier to go to this trouble, along with knowing what the committments are so he can buy gas too).

Last year I locked in at 0.99 per gal. Definately higher now by about 20%. Earlier this summer I bought a tank full for 1.04 per gallon.

Also found out that there is 'Ag gas' available for crop drying, etc. that is at a much lower rate than the residential gas. Some residentials actually get some of that gas delivered to their home, which probably isn't too legal.