“Propane contract or will-call this winter?”

Here's what I've found about propane calls: a supplier will usually answer every question on the sidebar if you ask it specifically, and almost nobody volunteers the answers. That's the whole lesson.

The four kinds of plan

Plan	How the price works	Risk you carry	Risk the company carries
Pre-buy (fixed)	You pay now for a set number of gallons at a set price	Prices fall and you're locked in; you overestimate and have unused gallons	Prices rise
Price cap	You pay the market price, but not above a ceiling	Usually a fee for the cap	Prices spike above the cap
Budget plan	Estimated winter cost split into monthly payments	Usually paired with a price plan, so check which	Smooths cash flow for both
Will-call	You call when the tank's low and pay that day's price	Ordering at a price peak; delivery fees on small orders	Little

Notice the budget plan isn't a price at all. It's a payment schedule. Ask what price the gallons are billed at under the budget plan, because it could be fixed, capped or market.

Why "we overpaid" is hard to prove

Propane prices move with the wholesale market and the weather. A cold snap can raise demand quickly, and a will-call customer orders during exactly those weeks. So you may well have paid high prices last winter. But pre-buy customers can also lose when prices fall after they've locked in.

You can check how last winter actually went. The U.S. Energy Information Administration publishes weekly residential propane prices by state and region during the heating season, generally October through March, in its Heating Oil and Propane Update. Compare the prices on your delivery tickets to the EIA's numbers for your state on the same dates. If your company was well above the regional average, that's a pricing question for them, not a plan question.

What you can know today: the fees

Fees and terms are where plans actually differ, and they're printed somewhere. These are the ones to ask about:

• Delivery fees or small-delivery fees for orders under a minimum number of gallons. These hit will-call customers who order small amounts.
• Tank rental if the company owns your tank, and low-usage fees if you use less than a threshold per year.
• Hazmat or regulatory fees added per delivery.
• Emergency or after-hours delivery fees if you run out.
• Pump-out or removal fees if you switch companies.

Add them to the gallon price for each plan and the comparison often looks different.

The tank question

If your propane company owns the tank, it's usually the only company allowed to fill it. That limits shopping during the season, so the contract is worth reading before you sign anything. Ask what it costs to have the tank removed and replaced by another company. If you own the tank, you can call around for will-call prices whenever you order.

How I'd choose

1. Get last winter's usage in gallons from your statements. That's your baseline for pre-buy amounts. Don't pre-buy more than you used.
2. Price each plan with fees, using last winter's gallons.
3. Decide what you're protecting against. If a price spike would wreck your budget, a cap or pre-buy is insurance. If you can absorb swings, will-call with full-tank orders avoids paying for protection.
4. Ask about unused pre-buy gallons. Do they roll to next season or get refunded, and at what price?
5. Consider automatic delivery instead of will-call. It removes the risk of running out and emergency fees.

There isn't a universally right plan. There is a plan whose fees you can read before December, and that's the one to pick.