Propane Team Ready For Winter

Published by Bob Hance on Thursday, October 31, 2019 in Community

I learned a new phrase this week. Polar Coaster.

Don’t confuse this with the Polercoaster, which is a type of amusement ride consisting of a very tall tower wrapped with a steel roller coaster. It’s apparently the same length as a traditional horizontal roller coaster, presented in a vertical format with a much smaller overall footprint. Bucket list!

Polar Coaster is how the 2020 Farmers’ Almanac is teeing up the 2019-20 winter season. “Are you ready for another winter ride, full of chills and thrills?! This winter will be filled with so many ups and downs on the thermometer, it may remind you of a Polar Coaster,” its website says.

Of course media outlets picked up on the hype, and are encouraging people to brace for an unusually freezing, frigid and frosty winter.

Under these circumstances, I like to remind people of two things. One: most of you reading this live in Michigan, and in Michigan we know how to do winter. Two: it’s nearly impossible for meteorologists to create an accurate five-day forecast, so why do we put so much stock in a long-term forecast from a 200-year old almanac?

Regardless, just hearing Polar Coaster takes many of us back to last winter, when we were gripped by an unusually frigid January. Even more impacting, many remember the winter of 2013-14, when a combination of brutal cold and supply issues prompted unprecedented price spikes from many retail propane providers, and mass fear from propane users desperate to keep their homes and families safe during the bitter cold.

For 20+ years we’ve offered a unique propane experience for customers in southwest and west central Michigan in the form of a capped rate, provided without additional fees and guaranteed through the entire heating season (June 1 – May 31). How do we do it? It’s a combination of art and science, with a little bit of luck occasionally thrown in. We monitor the wholesale gas markets throughout the year, securing gas when conditions are favorable so that we can provide stability and peace-of-mind pricing for our 6,500 customers.

This year, another opportunity fell into our laps as we met a new gas supplier who helped us lower our costs well beyond this heating season. In fact, we’ve secured enough supply that we are now announcing a price decrease for the 2020-21 heating season. It’s a great opportunity for current customers and new customers who come our way as we can confidently offer a rate of $1.599 from June 1, 2020 through May 31, 2021. It’s the first time in our 20+ year history that we’ve been able to guarantee prices for two back-to-back heating seasons so early; a tribute to our talented and hard-working team.

Our team is ready to tackle whatever Mother Nature sends our way, this winter and next. Want to experience our difference? Learn more at teammidwest.com/propane.