LPG Gas Suppliers

Well the time has come for my tank to be refilled. I took a look today to see how much gas I had left and it was less than 5%. Interestingly I received a letter from Countrywide telling me to check my tank so that if necessary I can order gas before ( heaven forbid) the bad weather is once again upon us!

So this morning I rang Countrywide and informed them my tank was down to 5% and I required a refill, “what was the current unit price” I asked, a pause and then “54.6 ppl sir”. After getting off the floor I asked the young lady to repeat just in case my hearing was playing up, no definitely 54.6 ppl.

So the negotiations begin “can we do better than that price wise?” another pause, “well Sir, I don’t actually deal with prices”. So I asked if she would get someone to ring me to discuss the price- I should get a call early next week, I will keep you all posted.

WISH ME LUCK.

Best Regards – Dickie

I have received a worrying email from one of our readers: -

Pat writes: “Went round all the village and got 22 people with Flogas who were interested in forming a syndicate. Telephoned Flogas and was told they do not negotiate with groups/syndicates now only individuals. Has anybody else had this problem?”

I would like to chase this up with Flogas and find out what is going on, so have any other syndicates had similar problems with any supplier, but in particular Flogas?  I think it’s time to remind Flogas of the BBC programme “don’t get done get Dom” and if necessary contact Dominic Littlewood to  see what he has to say. I Look forward to hearing from you.

I’d also like to thank Stephen Thomas for writing in;

Stephen writes: I’ve today received a reply from the Dept of Energy & Climate Change (DECC)in response to my contacting the Energy Secretary.

The OFT is due to report later this month (October 2011) into a study it launched in January 2011 to investigate the issues affecting those who are not on the gas-grid; exploring the longer term consumer issues such as lifetime payback, consumer standards and labelling for alternative energy sources or supplies.
The study promises to provide an independent assessment of the off-grid market and establish what further action may be necessary to ensure it works properly.
Website for further details: http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/market-studies/oft1302f.pdf.

Hopefully this report which we have been waiting for, will give us some of the results that we have been seeking. Provided I have the necessary permissions I will publish the parts of the report that concerns LPG as soon as I am able.

Best regards – Dickie

So the Energy Secretary Mr Huhne is going to “get tough” over energy prices, well let’s hope that includes LPG.

I will be writing to the Energy Secretary confirming that LPG is including in his plans, I urge you all to do the same. There are approximately 3.5 million of us who use LPG, with the majority of us all paying different tariffs, absolutely ridiculous isn’t it?  

With the real possibility of a further recession, we the consumer are being taken for a ride by these suppliers. Therefore I urge you to write/email to confirm we are included in this “Get Tough” campaign.

Department of Energy & Climate Change
3 Whitehall Place
London
SW1A 2AW 

Tel: 0300 060 4000 (standard national rate)

Email: correspondence@decc.gsi.gov.uk

I’m concentrating on these four companies at the moment just to give us a rough guide. It’s proving difficult with the larger companies as they ask so many questions with regard to personal consumer situations, however I will keep plugging away!
Regards
Dickie

Carver Gases:
http://www.carvergases.co.uk/ – 46.9ppl plus VAT
Extra Fuel:
http://www.extrafuel.co.uk – 49.22ppl
Lister Gases:
http://www.listergases.co.uk – 50ppl
LPGas Wales Direct:
http://www.lpgaswalesdirect.co.uk – 47.5ppl

Apologies, been a bit late in getting prices, I am going to ring round the main suppliers to get their monthly rates but in the mean time to give you an idea here are some that quote directly from their websites.

Remember it’s always worth haggling and see what they offer for fixed terms, but be on your guard as the suppliers are getting wise to fixed contracts and may have a number of different options that will be confusing, so investigate thoroughly.

Carver Gases:
http://www.carvergases.co.uk/ – 48.15ppl plus VAT

Extra Fuel:
http://www.extrafuel.co.uk – 50.22ppl

Lister Gases:
http://www.listergases.co.uk – 50ppl

LPGas Wales Direct:
http://www.lpgaswalesdirect.co.uk – 47.5ppl

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14077651

Well we knew it it would happen it was just a matter of when.

This means we need to prepare ourselves for the LPG suppliers who will soon follow with a separate price rise. Remember if negotiating a new contract try and get a fixed deal for as long as possible. My other advise would be if you are not in a syndicate is to check your tanks now and get them filled up before the rise occurs.

Syndicates remember you have the power to negotiate!

No doubt you heard the news yesterday that Scottish Power are raising their gas prices by a massive 19%. This will no doubt filter through to the other Gas companies and unfortunately it is very likely that LPG suppliers will also jump on the band wagon.

My only advice would be if your LPG contract is up for renewal and you cannot join a syndicate make sure when you negotiate a price, try to go for a fixed price for as long as you can get. Remember to shop around, get a quote from as many suppliers as you can and see if they will negotiate with a fixed price.

Be careful some companies may wait until October and try to sell the “we’re not budging” image and will entice you in and then raise at a later date.

Users currently in a contract check how much gas you have in your storage tanks, if possible think about refilling now before the certain rise, (the Bank of England has predicted a 15% hike) and standard gas suppliers like British Gas believe 25% is too little.  

Energy providers are like sheep when one moves the others will follow, so it’s certain the price will rise it is just a matter of when.

http://www.extragas.co.uk/

Can this be because Cheryl is not in the X Factor or perhaps it’s something to do with FIFA?
But whatever it is its causing major fluctuations!

It’s interesting how they say they will monitor and adjust accordingly, I’m not sure if that’s more worrying, have you ever known LPG prices come down?

On the other hand the Scottish LPG suppliers seem to have the right idea and happily advise their customer who live close together to order at the same time therefore reducing delivery costs. …………Not quite a syndicate but getting there. See http://lpgscotland.com/help.php

Come on UK suppliers try keeping up!

Remember when seeking out a syndicate in your area that you must take in to consideration that the LPG supplier will only deliver to their customers. Therfore if you are with Calor you must search out other Calor customers, similarly for other LPG companies, for instance I am with Countrywide and am naturally seeking out other Countrywide users. The LPG companies think that most of their customers are too lazy to go out and find others but with prices continually on the rise this is certainly changing and the LPG customer is fighting back.
Any syndicates who read this message please pass me your details so that I can post them up and more people can join!

Quote taken from – www.oft.gov.uk

STATEMENT OF SCOPE FOR OFF-GRID ENERGY MARKET STUDY

On 25 January 2011, the Office of Fair Trading announced our intention to

undertake a market study looking at the supply of off-grid energy and we

launched a short consultation on the scope of that study.1

The study is concerned specifically with the domestic use of off-grid energy:

that is, the supply of energy to consumers whose homes are not connected to

the mains gas grid. Around 3.6 million UK households are estimated to be offgrid.

The public consultation closed on 28 February, having generated over 300

submissions both from consumers and consumer groups, and from industry. In

addition, we have also engaged with a wide range of stakeholders across

Government, sector regulators, consumer groups and some trade bodies to gain

their views on the scope of the study. We are grateful for these valuable

contributions to the study.

Following the consultation, we have decided to focus the study on the domestic

supply of off-grid energy for heating (both space heating and water heating)

across the UK. Although the study will be national in scope, we will take into

account the significant regional and local variations in the distribution of off-grid

energy consumers and the market conditions they face.

The study will concentrate on the supply of energy primarily to meet domestic

heating needs, the main off-grid sources for which are currently heating oil or

liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). It will consider whether the markets for these

sources of domestic energy are working well for consumers. It will also consider

the extent to which other sources of energy are potentially viable alternatives

for heating oil and LPG customers.

The study will cover the following energy sources:

• • heating oil

1 Please see the OFT website: www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/market-studies/oft1302.pdf

OFT1302f | 3

• • LPG (supplied both in bulk and in cylinders)



(Plus other energy resourses but for this post I have concentrated on LPG)

Further it goes on to say:-

LPG

LPG is another common source of off-grid energy: it is estimated that at least

150,000 UK households use LPG as their primary source of heat.

Our study will extend to both cylinder and bulk LPG. There are important

differences in how these products are supplied and we will differentiate our

treatment of them accordingly.

For cylinder LPG, our study will focus on whether conditions of supply to

distributors exhibit anti-competitive features.

For bulk LPG, an investigation into the domestic market by the Competition

Commission in 2006 resulted in the making of Orders intended to reduce

barriers to switching. These took effect in 2009. The OFT has a statutory

responsibility to monitor compliance and to keep the carrying out and

effectiveness of such Orders under review.3 Our market study will look for

observations or other evidence of compliance with the Orders, their initial impact

and any implications for their longer term effectiveness.

Finally:-

Next steps

The study team will continue to engage with stakeholders. In particular, we

would welcome submissions from interested parties on the substantive issues

raised above by 27 May 2011.

Please send submissions to offgrid@oft.gsi.gov.uk, or to

Off-Grid Energy Market Study

Office of Fair Trading (2nd Floor)

Fleetbank House

2-6 Salisbury Square

London

EC4Y 8JX

We intend to complete the study in October 2011 and will post updates on our

website at: www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/markets-work/current/off-grid/

—————————————————————————————————–

So we still have until the 27th of May 2011 to write in and I strongly urge you to do so.

Best Regards

Richard.