National Ice Cream Day was this past July 20. If you love ice cream, like I do, you find out where you can get the best deal that day. Same thing for hot dogs. We could sit and debate the nutritional value of hot dogs for days, but I like them. Sorry! Their day was July 16, a few days ahead of ice cream. If you’re lucky, you can find a restaurant that offers multiple dogs for the price of one. Not a bad deal. But if you miss out, like I did, you can always throw a few on your backyard gas grill.
Why do I bring this up? Well, as most of you are aware, MEC is a diversified energy company that offers propane services, along with electricity, fiber internet, and phone. That grill I just referenced? Mine is fueled by propane, just like 42 million other weekend grill masters across America. And, whether you’re grilling hot dogs, chicken, or hamburgers, you appreciate having your propane ready to get the job done for you, your family, and friends.
Which brings me to the fact that Oct. 7 is National Propane Day. Yes, propane has its day in the sun as well—as it should. Unfortunately, though, not everyone gets a deal like our propane customers. I won’t say we’re the cheapest, but consistently, year-over-year, MEC’s propane is well below what others pay statewide. Not only that, but our price is locked, and we don’t charge the myriad of fees like many of our competitors do. This is huge for the 8,750 customers who rely on us to procure fuel that is both reliable and affordable.
I think it’s a safe bet that most of us use more propane in January than in any other month. Revisiting the past several years, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (www.eia.gov) confirms MEC has been comfortably below the weekly Michigan propane residential price for any given week the past several years. For instance, in January 2021, the average price of propane in Michigan was $1.867/gallon. At that time, MEC was at $1.599/gallon. In January 2022, the price jumped to $2.502/gallon across the state, whereas MEC remained at $1.599/gallon. Even when low domestic inventories jumped our price to $2.149/gallon in January 2023, the average price in Michigan was $2.287/gallon. The past two years have been locked in for $1.979/ gallon for MEC customers, and whether it’s January or July, our price is consistently below the statewide average, and we’re very proud of that!
It’s not all about price, though. We recently surveyed our propane customers and 84% ranked us as “top of class.” That’s one of the highest scores in the industry. I’m convinced this is because our employees live and work where we serve, and many of them use propane. You can’t successfully sell a product you don’t understand from personal experience.
Approximately 320,000 households in Michigan rely on propane as their primary heating fuel. This is more than any other state in the U.S. Ohio and Indiana are not too far behind. So, if you happen to be grilling out on Oct. 7, raise a glass (or ice cream cone) in recognition of National Propane Day, knowing that MEC has your back!
