anyone else get an astronomical bill from Suburban propane ?

[abwjms]

So we just got the bill for the 1/31-3/14 billing cycle, and it's huge.

The price works out to $3.84/gal, which tracks http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHa ... DE_DPG&f=W

(The price in DE rose almost vertically since the beginning of the year. Someone's benefiting from the new natural gas boom, but as usual it's not the public. A new gas contract between the HOA and the supplier will be a very good thing.)

Our usage though, was also huge. We used 242 gallons for a daily usage over the 42 days in the billing cycle of ~5.7 gals.

We keep our t-stats in the high 50s when we're not there, and a thermometer confirms we hit that mark. Yes, it was a cold winter; did anyone else have usage that high ?

[GregZerphy]

Yes, got our bill yesterday and our usage was about 4X what is was the last billing period. Price stayed the same at $3.799/gal. Something is wrong, we were only there five of the 44 days and our bill was almost $600. Will be calling Suburban on Monday.

Can anyone else chime in with their most recent propane usage in this billing cycle?

[edrutecki]

If you look, you will notice on the last bill they never read the meters. They took the readings prior to that and just transfered them up. My bill was also outrageous! I was only down for two hours one day at the beginning of February. Ours was $450.00...........yikes!

Full time homeowner Larry Klute converted to heatpump about two years ago. He also went with the electric backup so he effectively pulled the plug on propane. He was very satisfied with his upgrade. This winter has been a real test though. I'll send him an email and see how he made out. I'm super fed up with propane and getting ready to take the same plunge Larry did.

The new trash company Penninsula is also a propane distributer. Patti is working a deal with them as the contract Anderson signed with Suburban has expired. The rates with Penninsuls are supposed to be a major savings over Suburban. That said, it isn't real till the deal is signed.

I'll update this when I hear from Larry.

[GregZerphy]

Thanks Ed for your update. I looked at my previous bill again and it was an actual meter reading taken on 1/31/14. Billing period was 12/17/13 to 1/31/14. Quantity used: 44.1gal. We were there a total of four days and supplement with electric space heaters.

This billing period was 1/31/14 - 3/16-14. Quantity used 151.6gal. Again, we were there for four days.

Absolutely no explanation for the almost 4X usage.

Greg

[edrutecki]

Thanks Ed for your update. I looked at my previous bill again and it was an actual meter reading taken on 1/31/14. Billing period was 12/17/13 to 1/31/14. Quantity used: 44.1gal. We were there a total of four days and supplement with electric space heaters.

This billing period was 1/31/14 - 3/16-14. Quantity used 151.6gal. Again, we were there for four days.

Absolutely no explanation for the almost 4X usage.

Greg

Greg,

Look at your bill previous from 11/? to 12/17. If it is anything like mine you will see you used 44.1gal's. They never read the meters for the 1/31 bill. They guesstimated the 1/31 bill for the same usage as the previous one. Unfortunately it was very cold in January so we all used much more propane then in December.

I just heard one homeowner got a bill for $848.00. This winter can not end soon enough.

Larry Klute sent me some analysis he did on his heatpump. If there is interest I will post it up. It is sounding like a number of homeowners are considering the conversion.

[GregZerphy]

Thanks Ed, I'll have to go back and check the December bill. Surprised they don't have to make a notation that the usage was estimated in a given billing cycle.

The sad part is, assuming it was for two billing cycles(90 days), that's still almost $300/month while only being there about 2 days/mo. My monthly heating bill in PA is only $200/mo.!

I've asked this question before without ever getting a response, what are the propane bills for the permanent residents? They have to be well over $1,000.

I certainly would like to hear about Larry's experience with his new system.

Thanks,
Greg

[edrutecki]

The $848.00 bill was from a full time resident. She was also running an electric heater in the greatroom to keep the thermostat from kicking on. I'm not sure what she had the thermostat actually set for but knowing her I would imagine it was conservative.

I'll get Larry's information posted up. I think as people start opening up their mailboxes sticker shock will be setting in.

[Northeaster]

Just got our bill was 3X as much as previous bill, called then they told me I might have a gas leak, so I rush down from New Jersey to inspect and everything is okay. We keep the house at 55 degrees. Previous bill was $157.00 (14 cu ft). New bill from March 16th reading was $411.42 (38 cu ft.) Does that seem out of line?
What kind of bill could I expect if I lived down there full time?
Randy Ferguson

[GregZerphy]

Contacted Suburban Propane and was transferred to the main office in Maryland. After receiving two invalid explanations for the extremely high propane usage 1) "they didn't send us a February bill" had to explain to her that our billing cycles are ~45 days! 2) "Well, February was a really cold month", my response: yes it was, but not 4x as cold as January!

Long story short, they had no explanation for our 4X usage increase but scheduled someone to come out on April 2nd to re-read our meter.

Not sure what else I can do, except to contest it in writing as explained on the back of the bill. BTW, you only have 14 days to do so in writing after receiving the bill.

I would suggest that you call them questioning the extraordinary propane usage for this billing period if it affected you.

[Jetty]

I am VERY UPSET, too. From $100 to $500. I also only keep my house at 55. Is there something we can do as a community? This is ridiculous! I don't have 500 bucks to give them!