Call Kurtis: Northern California family fined for not using enough energy?
A Pollock Pines viewer says he just got fined for conserving energy. It was time to call Kurtis to investigate.
This family uses propane sparingly. So should have to pay hundreds for not using enough?
The wood is lined up for the winter. Mark Eddy uses a wood stove to keep his Sierra home warm. He air dries his laundry, BBQs outside, and keeps his water heater turned down.
"They've never done this to us before," said Eddy.
Ferrell Gas charged him $200.01 -- a no-usage fee. He says because he's not using enough propane. He admits he went a bit longer than a year in between propane refills but feels punished for conserving.
"That's not acceptable. I mean, we want to make the planet better," he said. "We want to use less of everything."
Eddy held onto his initial paperwork from when he signed up for Ferrell Gas nearly 20 years ago. He says it says nothing about minimum usage.
We found this customer service agreement online, where Ferrell Gas says it can charge a "low usage" fee if a customer does not purchase the minimum volume requirement. How much is that? It doesn't say anywhere in this fine print.
"Boy, these guys are getting desperate or there must be hurting for money or something," he said.
Ferrell Gas never explained the charge to us, so we reached out to the trade organization that represents it and roughly 150 propane companies, the Western Propane Gas Association.
We asked an association CEO, Colin Sueyres, what he thought about this policy, which seems to drive people to waste energy.
"The last thing we want anyone in this state to do is waste energy," he said.
Sueyres says if you use a particular company's tank, you have to buy your propane from them, and policies like this force people to follow the rules. If you're conserving or have another valid reason for using less, like you moved away part-time, he says explain that to the company.
Kurtis: "Would you expect one of your members to waive that fee?"
Sueyres: "I would expect so. And again, I can't speak for everyone because everyone's businesses are a little bit different. But all of the members I've talked to about this issue in the last several days since you reached out is it's all pretty much the same is going."
Ferrell Gas never did answer our questions, but they did say: "We've looked into the situation on our end and are waiving the customer fee."
"Well, thank you. To call Curtis," said Eddy. "I appreciate your help a lot."
Eddy plans to use his power as a consumer, buy his own tank, and shop for a new propane company.
"Why would you do that to somebody that's been a loyal customer for 20 years?" he said.
If you buy your own tank, you can fill it up with any company you want. Sueyres says you can get a used 250-gallon tank for about $1,300.
He says propane companies do encourage conservation, and some offer rebates for energy-conserving home projects.
