How much do you pay for propane?

We have a standby generator that uses propane, but we don't usually use a lot. In fact, the tank only gets refilled about once every year and a half. We've been using Suburban Propane and for the latest delivery, they want to charge us $5.30 per gallon. That seems incredibly outrageous, so I was wondering what others are paying now.

Also, what propane service would you recommend? We'll definitely be switching as this is the second time Suburban has tried to rip us off.

On the coast I am paying less than $2 a gallon right now. 

Not sure about other areas as they may not have as much competition.  We have 5 or more propane companies to choose from.  Introduction prices are usually way less for the first year.  I think I was quoted $1.60 a gallon. 

I filled up my RV tanks yesterday and the prices in town ranged from $1.70 to $2.19 so shop around if you can. 

If the tank is a rental maybe go with a different company as they will pump out what's in there and put in new tank. 

If propane companies don't get to sell you propane on a regular basis, they tend to surcharge for this type of sale.

A tactic that has worked in the mountains here is to use the supply company neighbors have. By piggybacking on a regular delivery the provider may be willing to offer a better rate. Not as good as a new service incentive rate but significantly better than the extortional amount of $5.30 per.

Have one of their tanks delivered I think it 60 bucks a year rent and you get the intro price switch companies every year and you get the cheap price. Anything over 2.70 is outrageously high. Or buy  some of those stand up  I think they are 40 or 50 gallon tanks on craigslist and take them to get filled.

Try Amerigas

I do agree with others about being a frequent customer

My landlords had the account an the price fluctuated between $1.70 - 3.00

Good luck

PS try negotiating with the gas companies, they won't tell you that you can pay less until you ask

I pay in the $2.50 range nowadays delivered from McPhails, a local company. Amerigas was screwing me pretty hard for awhile before I switched over. They ranged anywhere between $3.85 to $5. I had nothing but trouble with them. It doesn't hurt to call around and switch up. You have even more leverage if you purchase your own tank so I hear. Stay away from the big national companies IMO.

It town here I get my 20lb tanks filled for $1.99. Up until a few years ago, there was only one place in town to get a refill and they charged upwards of $4 a gallon, cash only. Weird considering every out here is on lp gas.
Now we have two options and both have been at $1.99 ever since. Competition is a good thing.

If propane companies don't get to sell you propane on a regular basis, they tend to surcharge for this type of sale.

A tactic that has worked in the mountains here is to use the supply company neighbors have. By piggybacking on a regular delivery the provider may be willing to offer a better rate. Not as good as a new service incentive rate but significantly better than the extortional amount of $5.30 per.

I actually made sure that I was on their regular delivery schedule, so they wouldn't have this excuse.

Thanks for all of the replies.

I was so ticked off that I couldn't wait until the office in San Jose opens on Monday. So, I called Suburban's headquarters. I did a little research ahead of time and found that a few years ago, they'd had a class action suit for overcharging in New York. So, I mentioned that on Yelp there are lot of other customers in San Jose with the same complaints. The scam seems to be that they charge an exorbitant rate, and if someone complains, they lower the price, but it's still well above the market rate. Anyways, I think I got their attention.

Do you own the tank or rent Suburban's?

Suburban did that here a few years ago. I'm not sure if they are even in town anymore. I do remember something came up about propane not being federally regulated and they could basically just charge what they want.

Here's the article from the local paper.
http://www.uniondemocrat.com/csp/mediapool/sites/UnionDemocrat/LocalNews/story.csp?cid=3768366&sid=753&fid=151

Check this chart out, average price in US is hanging around $2 now.

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=W_EPLLPA_PRS_NUS_DPG&f=W

Here's the article from the local paper.
http://www.uniondemocrat.com/csp/mediapool/sites/UnionDemocrat/LocalNews/story.csp?cid=3768366&sid=753&fid=151

That's kind of funny, as I just talked to the head honcho at the SJ office and he said all of those same things about "superior service" and all that. It must be from a script that comes from the corporate HQ. They did offer to lower the price to $3.70, but that's still pretty outrageous. So, I'll switch and have them come and pick up their tank, and I'm off the hook. The guy was almost apologetic.

Anyways, does anybody know how much it costs to buy a propane tank, and whether that's a good way to go? A 250 gallon tank is what we have now, and that's plenty big.

Tanks can be expensive.  I think they wanted around $1k for a 250 tank.  It's a minimal rental charge here so we just rent it.  So really depends on how much they rent for. We just had a tank swapped out today and I asked about tanks because I was going to buy one for our shop.  They said they don't fill the DOT tanks like you have for your grill or RV.  There is another one that doesn't need inspections in the future but can't remember what they were called.

Where we live majority of people are on propane, those who own their tank and shop usually pay .75 to $1 less per gallon then those of us who are stuck in a lease/rental, especially underground. If you have autofill be sure and keep track of tank level and try and call to negotiate/verify price before they fill up, otherwise they will charge you as high of price as they think they can get away with.  Suburban did that to us even though they swore everyone in our neighborhood paid same price for propane whether on lease or not. They said "we just forgot to give you the lower price", sure.